


Beautiful Trauma

by moonlightnightmare



Series: Beautiful Trauma [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, Graphically depicted scenes of torture (will be trigger tagged by chapter), Inspired by FandomObsessedGirl's fanfic Scattered Petals, Qrow and Summer are married, Qrow is Ruby's dad, and the fanfic Poisonous Tongue, heavily AU, the what if Summer was still alive au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-01-25 21:49:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 28
Words: 53,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12541936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlightnightmare/pseuds/moonlightnightmare
Summary: “I’m scared, Qrow. There are a lot of what if’s and the biggest one is what if I’m not strong enough. What if all of my training was pointless and I’m still not strong enough to beat her? What if after everything we’ve done to keep her safe and out of this, Ruby gets thrown right into the middle of all of it?”“Hey, look at me.” He coaxed her face from where she’d buried in his chest, bringing Silver to meet Crimson. “You are the strongest woman I know, Summer. If anyone can do this it’s you.”---------What if Summer Rose hadn't died, but was instead taken captive. This is that story. If anything actually manages to pertain to volume five developments I will be shocked, but this story is purely based on my own idea of what should happen. Please enjoy.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Here we are, at the start of my pain inducing, self indulgent, painfest writing extravaganza known as a fanfic with the Qrow is Ruby's dad headcanon. I am actually screeching that I've convinced myself to do this, but after the reading the works of so many of the fandoms great writers, I had to try my hand at becoming one of the greats. 
> 
> Bear with me guys, the Prologue is a bit long, and it covers a lot of shit. It'll get better. I promise.

There was a soft giggle from the small child resting in Summer Rose’s lap, a natural happy sound, likely provoked by the blonde haired girl that sat just a few feet away pretending to beat up a stuffed dragon with a doll. Apparently the doll was a huntress, and the dragon, well--- It was best to assume that Grimm wasn’t going to leave this confrontation alive. Not with Huntress Barbie at the helm of the mission. 

Oh Gods. Summer turned to Qrow, a smile coming to rest on her pale features, and she leaned into her husband with a laugh in the direction of the little firecracker on the floor. Their wedding had been a private affair, a matter Qrow had insisted on, if she insisted that they finally get married. It had just been the two of them, and Professor Ozpin who had elected to be their official who married them. It had happened in Ozpin’s office, Summer had worn a long dress for the first time in her life, and honestly, despite the fact that it had been so secluded (to attempt to cancel out any dangers that might be provoked via Qrow’s anxiety towards his unfortunate semblance) it had still been the happiest day of her life. 

Until Ruby had been born, the small child resting in her lap had become pretty much her entire world. Especially with Qrow constantly gone on reconnaissance missions for Ozpin. As it was, the threats they faced everyday were growing worse and worse, and ever more dangerous. But the little bundle of joy in her arms was enough reason to keep fighting. If the little one on the floor wasn’t enough by herself. The two of them had basically become Summer’s whole world, when her husband was away. 

And he stayed away a lot. He promised that it had nothing to do with her, but she was almost certain the reason he took so many of Ozpin’s missions was due to the fact he feared that, especially now that they were married with a baby, that his already bad luck would progress to worse and do something ruin their happy family. And every time. Every. Single. Time. He got that look on his face when something bad happened around the house, even if it was so much as a dish getting broken while she was doing dishes, she’d look at him and she’d demand his attention only to speak a quiet “Nope. Not your fault.” And return to her work. 

But the best moments, were the ones like these, there were no worries. No cares, no outside engagements or other things to persistently work their way to the forefront of their minds. It was just them, and the kids. And peace. The peace that hung over their family was the best part, because in moments like these with little Ruby falling asleep in her lap, giving sleepy giggles at her cousins antics and Yang playing with her toys enthusiastically on the floor, there were no Grimm outside the safety of home. There were no bad guys, no wars to fight. No maidens, or artifacts, or silver eyed warriors. Just her family, happy. And nothing was better than that. 

\-------------

The next few days had passed in similar fashion. Her favorite moment had to be baking cookies with Qrow and the girls, only for a flour fight to promptly ensue and for everything to grow increasingly more adorable, and slightly more chaotic as Ruby attempted to rub the flour from her eyes only to further ground it in, only earning a loud shrieking wail from the child. That and Yang had cracked an egg on Qrow’s head. Unmistakably the best thing she’d ever seen in her life. (And that was including the time she’d seen Qrow get his ass handed to him by an Atlesian student during the Vytal Festival when they were still in attendance at Beacon. She hadn’t left him alone about it, and still to that day wouldn’t let him live it down.)

But all good things had to come to end at some point, and the mirage of their happy life, shattered with an alarming scroll call from Professor Ozpin involving a lead on one of their most dangerous enemies. And the concentration of Grimm that she always brought with her, wherever she seemed to go. 

When Summer disconnected the call between herself and her former headmaster, she looked up to her husband, a steel look in her silver eyes. She’d been trained for this. She’d been so forced to prepare for the inevitability of this moment that it was something she wanted to finally put an end to, so that the world may know some small fraction of peace. 

There was a small puff of air that escaped her lips in a huff that sounded almost frustrated, and she fought the urge to throw the lifeless scroll at the couch. They’d leave in the morning, but the conversation she wanted to have, would wait. Until the girls were soundly sleeping, she didn’t want to ruin their perception of what they did. The girls saw them as heroes. Heroes were happy to protect people. They didn’t get angry when they were forced out into the battlefield to fight the monsters and demons. But damnit she was beyond pissed off. It wasn’t too long before Yang and Ruby were tucked in, and not much longer after that, that the two girls had drifted to sleep leaving Summer and Qrow sitting alone at the kitchen table. 

“Is it so wrong to want a little bit of peace?” In that moment, Summer looked so much older than she actually was. Twenty seven years old, and she looked like she could be forty, or rather, as if she carried the weight and knowledge a forty year old might have. 

“No, but we knew when we entered Beacon that this was going to be the life we led.” Qrow’s low voice filled the room, and she wilted to rest her head against the table. 

 

“I don’t want to take it back. I love being a huntress. I just--- I’m so tired of fighting enemies that we know are stronger than us. Sometimes I wish I could just-----” She stopped herself from speaking what came to her thoughts next. Sometimes she wished she could just rip her eyes out of her head and give up the power of the damn Silver Eyed Warriors. It wasn’t like she asked for it. 

“Summer---”

“What? Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about what our life might be like if we hadn’t been born with the curses we bear. I can get rid of mine. I can take the target right off our backs. But then I realize that as soon as I do that. I’m thrusting the same responsibility on our daughter, and she’s not even out of her crib yet.” She turned her head back up, to look at her husband. Infinite sadness written on her features, her infamous silver eyes following him as he got up and walked around the table, pulling her to her feet and into his arms. 

“It’s almost over, shortstack.” She knew his words were supposed to be comforting. But how was she supposed to feel, she was going up against a woman stronger than any Grimm they’d ever faced, and she was the only one aside from her infant daughter with the power to kill her. 

“I’m scared, Qrow. There are a lot of what if’s and the biggest one is what if I’m not strong enough. What if all of my training was pointless and I’m still not strong enough to beat her? What if after everything we’ve done to keep her safe and out of this, Ruby gets thrown right into the middle of all of it?”

“Hey, look at me.” He coaxed her face from where she’d buried in his chest, bringing Silver to meet Crimson. “You are the strongest woman I know, Summer. If anyone can do this it’s you.”

Well if the tables hadn’t turned there, normally he was the one in need of the reassurances, in the form of tiny soft spoken nopes and repetitive mantras of it’s not your fault. She always been so diligent about reassuring him that sometimes bad things just happen, that when it came to her own stance on her own issues, she tended to shove them down. Seemed like ten years of burying her feelings had finally caught up to her. Qrow held her in silence for a few more minutes before they both decided that it was time they hit the hay for the night. They’d have one hell of a day ahead of them tomorrow. 

\------------------------------

The mission had started hours ago, her eyes passed over the other huntsman and huntresses that had been sent to accompany them, ordered to keep the Grimm at bay while she and Qrow dispatched their Queen. However upon landing, a hollow feeling filled her, and it felt like her heart was attempting to leap out of her throat. All had been silent for a total of two seconds before the carnage had begun. 

Two of the eight others sent with them were felled by an unseen projectile feathers of a Nevermore keeping it’s distance from the ground, hovering in the air around the broken city. Large feathers pinning their forms to the ground through their abdomens. Summer took a deep breath, her grip tightening on her own weapon and she slashed her way through a few Ursi and a small pack of Beowolves. 

They had to stay calm. She had to stay calm. Letting the panic get to her was only going to cause more problems with the fight they were in the middle of. They had enough Grimm on them to kill an entire large village, the last thing they needed was their panic to attract more. Summer took the singular free second she’d managed to scope out the area for any signs of----HA! Got her.   
“Qrow! Over there!” They had to run, best chance for survival. If they didn’t run, they’d die. They’d die anyway, fighting the Grimm Queen as it was. (Wasn’t her lack of faith refreshing?) “Watch my back!”

Summer forced herself to focus. Forced herself to remember her training in the midst of the chaos. There were three of them left standing, in total. Nope. Scratch that. Just her and Qrow. She had to act now, or they’d be slaughtered to, and she’d be damned if her daughter was going to grow up without her father. Her eyes caught sight of Salem’s descent from her perch, just before the pain splintered through her head, and a blinding white filled her sight. 

She’d been trained for this. She could do this. She was going to end this here, and now. White wings seemed to extend from her eyes, lifting her from the ground, so that she hovered in the sky. Her vision was focused now, eyes burning as they came to rest on Salem’s twisted form. 

The fight commenced. Below Qrow fought off the Grimm that threatened to put an end to the battle raging above. She could hear the sounds of his labored breathing as he attacked. She could hear Salem’s rage, and the cries of her children on the ground below. Just as she heard the sounds of her blade striking another. So the Queen could fight. 

Her hand extended, her eyes resting firmly on the Grimm Queen, her attention couldn’t afford to be anywhere else. Her eyes had opened a gateway to the energy that now flowed through her, white light gathered in her hands, and she expelled blast after blast of the pure energy towards the woman who dodged every attempt with practiced ease. 

“You think you can take me down. That’s amusing.” The taunt fell on deaf ears. “Do you think you can defeat me when----” 

She shot another blast from her hand, this one pinning the woman in the shoulder. A shriek escaped her lips, followed by another sound that she knew all too well from years of practiced fighting with the man. Qrow. He wasn’t doing to well. Her attention shifted for the briefest of seconds, but that seemed to be all the Grimm Queen needed from her. Sharp claw like fingernails protruded from her back as she spit blood in the face of the woman whose hand had done the deed. 

The white glow died out, as she struggled to draw in breaths. When the hell had her aura depleted? She hadn’t been keeping track. It didn’t matter, she was bleeding, a lot. And her body was dropped several feet from the sky to the ground. Her head hitting the cobblestones with a thud. 

Blurred vision searched for Qrow, the hand that wasn’t wrapped around her waist attempting to stop the bleeding extended towards him. And she could see his form attempt to make it’s way over to her. The Grimm surrounding them remained docile, lying in wait for their orders. A well aimed attack had sent the huntsman sprawling, consciousness lost. Leaving her at the mercy of their enemies. 

This was the end. It was all over. 

\-------------------------

Qrow’s journey home from the hospital had been long, made on foot. A choice that had been made to give him more time to figure out exactly how he intended to leave what was left of his family behind. 

For her own protection. He kept promising himself that was why he was doing this. That this was what set him apart from his sister who had just up and left with no reason other than having not wanted the life she’d made for herself anyway. Qrow had had everything he wanted. 

And he’d lost it. 

He’d been so damn close, but as it did every time, he knew that his decent luck was bound to run out eventually. And oh, how he’d fucked everything up. Of course he blamed himself for what happened. He was supposed to protect her. He’d failed. 

And now he was going to give up everything, so that he could protect the only piece of her he had left. The door opened revealing a little Ruby, tottering across the floor in clumsy steps to reach her father. 

He reached down, fluffing his daughters hair, before heading towards the kitchen where he’d heard Tai, likely attempting to prepare dinner. There was an almost cold edge to Branwen’s motions, as he shifted to close the door that led from the kitchen to the playroom they’d made for the girls. 

“I want you to take care of Ruby for me.”

“I’m pretty sure I do that already.” Taiyang rolled his eyes, turning to take in the sight of his team mate. He looked like death. “Where’s Summer?”

Silence fell over the room as Qrow produced something neatly wrapped from his bag of things. “She’s not coming back. I need you to take care of Ruby for me, Tai. I need you to be the father I can’t be for her.”

Tai took the package, unwrapping it, a gasp escaping his lips as Summer’s bloodied cloak fell to it’s full length in his grasp, bloodied claw marks poked through it. “What are you going to do, Qrow? Just leave?” 

Gods he hated the fact that he had to act like he wanted this. It wasn’t what he wanted. He didn’t want to be torn from his position as Ruby’s father, but he had to be. He had to do this, for her own safety. His semblance had taken enough from her. 

“I’m going to hunt down the bitch that did this to her. And I’m going to kill her.” That was all the explanation that Taiyang got on the matter, because Qrow didn’t speak any further. He just turned, and walked out. As if he’d never walked in the door, leaving Tai with the bloodied cloak and the life of the most precious thing left in his world. And somewhere, past all the regret and self loathing, he found that he’d made the right choice.


	2. The Importance of Knowledge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby and Qrow have a heart to heart about Summer. Ruby finally learns the truth of her mother's death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yet again, we see here that my writing needs work still. My apologies. I'm still wading into the waters of writing for a fandom I've never written for before. But regardless, I hope you enjoy this. There's a couple of POV switches in this chapter. Because I couldn't help but exploit both of their feelings. 
> 
> Anywho keep calm and read on. <3

Ruby Rose was leaning all the way back against the couch, and she knew that if Weiss were here, the woman would have so many things to say about just how bad it was for her back, despite the softness of what she was laying against. Good posture---- blah blah blah. Her leg was crossed over the opposite knee and she was listening intently to the further debriefing from her Uncle in regards to everything that she was now involved with. 

“So you mean to say that this Salem chick is like the Goddess of Grimm?” So eloquently put, Jaune, you literally stole the words from everyone’s mouth. 

“Not exactly.” She could practically see her Uncle’s desire to get the hell out of that particular situation. 

“Well, technically, she could be considered the Goddess of Grimm, but that’s not the point he was getting at.” Ruby spoke up, leave it to her to have actually been paying full attention to every word her Uncle had spoken to them. “Salem is basically the oldest surviving Grimm.” 

“Glad to know someone was paying attention.” Qrow eyed the others. Ren seemed to be paying attention too as far as Ruby could tell, but Nora was too busy picking through a bag of candy, and Jaune was still a skeptic. 

“So how the hell do you defeat the oldest surviving Grimm? She wouldn’t still be alive if she wasn’t smart enough to avoid getting caught.” Jaune posed a good question though. Ruby made a face that screamed that she was about to agree with Jaune. 

“You’re not wrong.” Qrow’s voice sounded particularly annoyed at the nature the conversation had taken, but it was bound to happen eventually anyway, right? “She has weaknesses. And we’ll get into that later.” 

Silver eyes glanced over her Uncle. He looked tired. Like he was exhausted trying to avoid certain topics of conversation in pertinence to the nature of Salem and her weaknesses. And again, Jaune found himself angered by the nature of Qrow’s disregard for telling them the whole truth. “Why don’t you just stop beating around the bush and just tell us how to kill her already?”

“Because defeating Salem isn’t your responsibility, kid.” She could hear unspoken words in the way he spoke, almost like he was saying that he wasn’t going to put them in that situation. But a conversation she and her Uncle had had a while ago, before she’d left home had told her all she needed to know. 

She had a feeling, a nagging suspicion, that the only person left alive on Remnant that could destroy Salem was right there, fidgeting with the edges of her skirt. “Jaune, just leave it alone, okay? We’ll figure it out later, right now we have bigger matters of importance.”

\----------------------------  
Qrow sometimes hated how much like Summer his daughter was. The way she seemed to take charge in situations where tensions were high, defusing situations with almost political precision. How she could go from being a child to being wise beyond her years in a blink of an eye. There were times when he wished he could tell---- But he couldn’t. He’d made sure of that when he’d left her with Tai so many damn years ago. 

He was so damn proud of her though. He’d have to make sure that she knew that. Everything that she had been through, and took in stride. She was just as strong and beautiful as her mother. 

“I think that’s enough for today. It’s getting late, and I have plans.” His eyes passed over Ruby, who was looking at him like she was not going to let him just disappear to come back home drunk later. 

Damnit. 

Damnit all. 

He watched the other’s scatter, leaving just the two of them, still in their positions in living room. He leaned forward, elbows coming to rest on his knees, forehead resting against his hands, and he heaved a sigh. It was about time they had this conversation. 

\-----------------------------

“Be honest with me, Uncle Qrow.” Ruby’s eyes refused to look up at him, finding anything else to keep her attention. She was focused intently on a spot on the floor. That was a nice spot. “Why won’t you tell them what we’re supposed to do?”

She could tell by the way he shifted that this was going to be a difficult conversation. “Remember how I told you that your Mom had Silver eyes too?” He gave a pause, but didn’t wait too long before continuing, “The two of you… You. Are the only one with the power required to beat the Queen. It’s your eyes, Ruby.” 

There was a tension in his voice, like he hated himself for even speaking the words. He knew she wouldn’t stand back and do nothing. She never did. “It’s okay, I’m not going to go try to fight her. I’m not Yang.”

That broke the tension, earning a slight chuckle from her Uncle. “I’m gonna tell her you said that, Pipsqueak.”

“I’m counting on it.” She paused a moment, before following up quickly with, “Will you tell me more about Mom? Every time I ask Dad, he dodges the topic.” 

\-----------------------

Another conversation he’d been avoiding. She’d asked before, and he’d told her the smallest tidbits of things, just enough to satisfy her curiosity. But that wasn’t going to suffice anymore. There was so much to tell. So much that played into everything that had happened to their world. To her world. 

“Your mother was special.” He was going to need a drink after this. More like half a bars worth of a drinks. “And I can see so much of her in you, it’s almost scary.” There was another huffed exhale before he continued. “Your mother was one of the original members of our generation’s Brotherhood. She was the one who brought me into all of this, and let me tell you, kiddo, I didn’t believe a word of the lunacy that Ozpin tried to convince me existed in our world. Not at first, but your mom, well she begged me to have faith in her, if I didn’t have any in Oz.” 

That had been one hell of a conversation. And it’d gone down during a sparring match between the two of them. He’d be the first to tell you, he’d believe anything if it meant catching Summer off guard. And so he’d relented. 

“Oz told me everything, the biggest secrets of our world.Though, the hardest to believe was the stories he told me of your mom’s power. I didn’t believe a word he’d said about the Silver Eye trait until I saw your mom freeze a hoard of Ursi big enough to slaughter a small army just like that.” He snapped his fingers for emphasis, getting into the story he weaved. 

“Your Mom was something else, Ruby. She took everything in stride. She didn’t let the crazy phase her.” Except for the moment that she had, the day before they left. The night before the mission that killed her. “And she was a natural born leader, just like you.” 

Ruby grinned. She was glad that she was like her mother, even though she couldn’t really remember the woman that well. Something about that knowledge felt good. Like she knew she was doing something right. “Listen to me, Ruby. We will find another way to get rid of Salem. I’m not going to put you through what your mother went through.”

He watched as his daughter stood up, moving over to sit next to him. “Mom died fighting her, didn’t she? It wasn’t a Grimm attack…?”

“No--- it wasn’t.” Might as well just get it over with Qrow. He could hear the sadness in Ruby’s voice, and it took all of his strength not to end the conversation and walk out. “Your mom was killed by Salem.”

And for a single instant, instead of sitting in a nice safe house in Mistral, he was back in a ruined city, surrounded by their dead comrades. He was dragging himself across the ground, towards Summer’s bleeding body. He was seeing his wife, dying and he couldn’t even reach her. “You should go to bed, kiddo, we’ve got a long next couple of days ahead of us.”

\---------------------

There was a detachment in the way he spoke, the words echoed through Ruby’s head. And she took a moment to recall the night he’d told them about his particularly unfortunate semblance, and she reached a hand out, placing it on her Uncle’s shoulder. “I know Mom probably didn’t get the chance to tell you, so I’ll say it for her. It wasn’t your fault. Sometimes bad things just happen.” 

Ruby knew better than to push the conversation further, especially after her Uncle had insisted she go to bed, so she rose up from her new found spot on the sofa next to him, and started making her way towards her room. There was a moment where she thought that the conversation was over. Before he spoke again, “I’m proud of you, Ruby. Your mom would be proud of you too.”

The young Rose gave her Uncle a smile, that was almost laced with an edge of sadness. She was glad that he thought so. Because she could almost swear that she wasn’t worthy of such praise from her Uncle. She wasn’t strong enough to save anyone----- No. She’d been strong enough to save him. Despite everything. She’d saved him. 

“Thanks, Uncle Qrow.”

Ruby retreated to her room, a sigh escaping her lips as she fell into her bed. So she’d been right. Her suspicions had been correct. How was she supposed to stand by and let more bad things happen to their world and not do anything? Surely he knew that she was going to do her best to be strong enough to fight Salem, and win. For the sake of humanity. 

But her thoughts drifted as she slipped into sleep, and she dreamed of her mother. The last sound at the edge of her consciousness being the sound of the door closing as her Uncle left their safe house, to no doubt drown his feelings in a bottle of scotch. There was still so much that she had yet to learn, but she’d learn it all in time.

\-------------------------------

The world was silent, until the loud shout echoed through the house, “NORA!”


	3. In Memoriam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer reflects back on the early days of her captivity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is substancially shorter than the other two, with good reason. If I revealed the game now, the story would be ruined XD >;D. Enjoy this Summer-centric chapter.

There were few things that withstood the test of time. The world was round, the seas were rough, fairytales were true, and Summer Rose loved her family with everything she had. As it was, The Black Rose as she had been deemed by Salem, after her supposed reconditioning, was anything but the pawn the Queen believed her to be. 

She still remembered the earlier times of her captivity, even now that she’d earned a seat at the table of Salem’s council. She played the role of a good little pet, having done less than desireable things to keep herself alive. Her memories of a time long since past being the only thing she had left to keep herself from giving in to the seeds of darkness planted within her. But she would continue to bide her time. Just as she always had. The time would come when Salem would deem her worthy of a field mission alone----- and then she’d make her escape. An escape that was without a doubt sixteen years in the making. 

She could still remember the way she’d been so convicted in believing that a search party would find her, because she knew they’d been sent out. 

\--------------------------------

Summer Rose had counted the days in the number of times her captors made their appearance tormenting her until she yielded the screams they desired from her. So far, if their visits at all correlated with the days, she’d been trapped here for 28 days. For this day, it was the scorpion sent to be her tormentor, the day prior it had been the doctor. They alternated, normally. One one day, the other the next. And she had fought them, until they’d dragged screams clawing out of her throat. 

On that day it was poison, and cruelty. Malicious laughs from the face of a man who was so dark for his age. A true psychopath. Tyrian enjoyed the suffering of others, he took great joy in it. Which was why she withstood longer than she did with the doctor. She wanted him to know that she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of hearing her beg, that she’d rather let his poison kill her than actually beg him for the right to live. 

Instead she let herself swim in the memories, happy memories of times passed. She would retreat to her memories, and she would lose herself in the tiniest of details within them. Picking apart the scenes, losing herself in the props, the people, the setting. It was her way of coping with what she would be forced to endure until she was found. 

It was her wedding day this time. She recalled changing in one of Beacon’s restrooms close to elevator that lead to Ozpin’s office, where the ceremony was held. She could pick out the tiniest details of the dress, long and flowing and white. A belt seemingly made out of the thorns of rose bush rested at the waistline of the dress, a single rose at it’s center, offering the only color to the dress, a beautiful crystalline blue. She recalled the cold metal of the elevator doors as her hand came to rest on it. She strained to see the individual grains in the metals surface from where the doors had been shaped and designed. 

She remembered the ride up, the feeling of weightlessness as she tried to pull herself together. She had insisted that Qrow wasn’t allowed to see the dress, let alone see her in it until the moment she walked into the room. When she offered up that it was bad luck, it only seemed to cement him to following her odd request. It was the strangest superstition to choose to believe in, but as it was, to her it just made a strange sort of sense. 

When the doors opened, her favorite part of the memory had to be the look on Qrow’s face. The way he looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world. The way his eyes lit up, as he took in the sight of her. And she could see all his worries melt away, if only for a single moment.

She couldn’t breathe, her focus lost in the fact that her lungs were having an increasingly difficult time dragging in air. But there was a steely regard to her expression, no matter how weak, as she heaved in attempted breaths, that had only half the effect. Tyrian laughed at her, “Not so strong now are you?”

No. She was still stronger than he gave her credit for. She slipped back into her memories, analyzing the feeling of breathlessness with the feeling that she’d had that day, where every step stole another breath from her lungs. Years of waiting, years of patience and preparation. And finally, it was happening. 

And standing in front of Qrow in that moment it had felt like all the air had been ripped from her lungs. She had been shocked to see that he’d actually elected to wear a suit, something she had been far from expecting. But as it was, she had chosen to wear a dress different from the usual. Even if they were the only ones present to appreciate it. Ozpin seemed to be particularly, proud of his best and brightest on that day as well. 

They had elected to write their own vows. 

She spoke first. 

Every word hurt, like someone had shoved a knife into her lung, and was forcing her to keep talking. The feeling bleeding through and tainting one of her purest memories. She’d been forced to look the Scorpion in the eye. To come back to her position, to the depth of the situation. 

She’d looked up at him, her glare weakened, but also still ever present. “They’ll come for me, he’ll come for me.”

Her head had spun, and she could tell even as she slipped from consciousness his words were meant to make her lose hope. “I highly doubt that, considering he believes your dead.” She fell into unconsciousness to the sounds of his wicked manic laughs. 

\----------------------------------

The Black Rose turned her head towards Salem as the woman began to speak. A silence fell over the table, over the room. Even Tyrian who had been severely reprimanded only hours before for his failure in capturing Ruby, fell silent and he was never quiet, definitely his most annoying trait. 

“The time is near, it won’t be long before all the pieces are in play, and the true game begins.” 

Seemed like it was going to be another long day.


	4. Joy Before Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A birthday chapter. Ruby receives a special gift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I had to give my precious daughter a birthday tribute chapter, simply because I needed to have something to offset the sadness that's coming in later chapters. I needed my baby to be happy. So have everyone being happy kids like they should be instead of worrying about the world falling apart. And Qrow being a proud dad/uncle.

Ruby had been the first one up, despite having been the last to go to bed. Aside from her Uncle, who was no where to be found, when she’d woken up. It made her wonder exactly what he’d gotten up to after their talk last night. She’d assumed he’d gone to a bar. It was what he tended to do when he had to talk too much about topics he didn’t really enjoy. She retreated back to her room grabbing a pen and piece of paper, to scribble a note for the team. 

She might as well run down to the market, before it got too busy, and pick up some food for them to live on for the next few days. She had enough Lien from the missions she’d taken on the way here to do that much. She also needed something to do, so that she wasn’t just sitting around twiddling her thumbs, waiting for something to happen. She was getting restless. 

She left the note pinned to the refridgerator, scrawled in her sloppy and yet some how elegant handwriting. 

Heya, 

Went down to the market to buy some stuff. Be back soon! <3 

 

Ruby.

Short sweet, simple and to the point. With Crescent Rose strapped into it’s place at her back, she headed out into morning air of Mistral. The chill in the air was enough to make her pull her cloak tightly around her. Shit it was cold up here in the mountains, not as cold as it was in Atlas, she was almost certain, but---- there was an undeniable chill of late autumn air. 

She moved, following signs leading to the market, and of course, the first thing she did was stop to look at a flashy weapon that some vendor was showing off. It looked like a katana, that could also become dual daggers, and a set of handguns. Cool. She offered the vendor her praise, before moving along. 

\------------------------------------

Qrow Branwen had spent his night at a bar, much like Ruby thought. But shockingly enough, he’d only had two drinks all night. No, his thoughts, for once, hadn’t led him to drown in a bottle of bottom shelf whiskey. 

He wondered if she even remembered what the date was. He knew what it was like to lose track of time, especially with missions, and traveling, and it’d been months since the fall of Beacon. And he had admittedly been shocked when his daughter hadn’t exploited the fact that her birthday was resting just around the corner. Given the tensions, and the shit she’d been through though, he wouldn’t doubt it if she’d completely forgotten. 

But he hadn’t. He never did. No matter the circumstances, he never forgot the one day of the year where he could celebrate having been blessed enough to have her in his life. They’d talk later, but until he was sure that the party her friends were planning was over, he’d keep his distance. 

Aside from almost dying, his lucky streak had been a little too long. He’d prefer to avoid causing catastrophe. Especially today, with the looming feeling of danger, he would stay away. His attention shifted to bartender, and he motioned for another drink. His little petal, had made it to seventeen. And he couldn’t be fucking prouder. 

\----------------------------

Ruby couldn’t tell you how long she’d been out. Whoops. She’d gotten lost in series of booths and vendors, weapons attracting her attention, as she sifted through the stalls buying food here and there, and finally now that the sun was hanging high in the sky she was making her way back towards the safe house, with her hands full of groceries for herself and her team, and her favorite Uncle. 

For the time of day their safe house was surprisingly quiet. Eerily so. She shrugged it off, they’d all probably found something else to do with their time, than sitting around questioning their entire existence. Good. She was glad that they’d found something to distract themselves, even if she wasn’t entirely sure what it was. She set to unloading the groceries, putting them away, before searching for any signs of the rest of her new team. 

Maybe they’d decided to spar in the backyard? If that was the case why were things so quiet? Eh, it didn’t matter, it was the only place she hadn’t looked yet. She opened the door leading to the Safe House’s back patio, stumbling back a little bit when she was met with four voices chorusing her with shouts of Surprise. 

She looked almost confused, for a moment before it all made sense. She’d forgotten her birthday. But they’d all remembered. Tears welled up in her eyes and a big smile spread across her face. “You guys, you didn’t have to.”

“We wanted to.”Jaune spoke, reaching out to offer the smaller girl a hug. Nora approached next, giving an almost back breaking hug. 

“Ren made the cake! I helped!”

Ren offered a soft hand on her shoulder, giving Nora a look, “She taste tested.” Which was Ren speak for Nora ended up eating at least half of, at least one cake, before a whole cake managed to survive. 

“Where’s Uncle Qrow?”

It was Oscar who spoke up next. Speaking with a wisdom beyond his years, likely acting on behalf of Professor Ozpin. “He had a pre-existing engagement, but he’ll be back later.” His tone shifted to the tone that she’d come to associate with the boy instead of the Professor, “Happy Birthday, Ruby.”

The party was great, small as it was, everything seemed to be just right, despite the fact that she wished that Yang, Weiss, and Blake were there. And of course, her Uncle Qrow would’ve been a nice addition. But her birthday wasn’t going to put a stop to the fact that there was an impending war against dark forces on the horizon. 

As night fell, Ruby found herself sitting on the sofa watching some cartoon or another, not really paying attention to it, so much as using it for background noises as she and Jaune chattered idly. Until the door opened, revealing her Uncle, who seemed surprisingly sober. Holy shit. It really must be her birthday. 

“I’m gonna go to bed. Night, Ruby.” Jaune made his way out of the living room, leaving her alone with her Uncle. 

She stood up from her seat, before a flurry of rose petals flew towards him, her body reforming to tackle him. The two of them hit the ground, “Thank you, Uncle Qrooooooooooow. I know you had something to with all of this.”

She jumped up, dusting herself off, and she seemed genuinely happy. She was. Everything had been so great. It was nice to actually be able to feel something akin to happiness without feeling bad for it. 

“Whatever gave you that idea, kiddo.” She knew he was teasing, simply by the trademarked smirk that rested on his face as he stood up. “I got somethin’ for ya.” 

\---------------------------

It had taken Qrow a while to decide on his gift. The one he’d settled on, held a lot of meaning. It’d originally been a gift to her mother. He remembered the day he’d given it to her clear as day. 

_They’d been on the airship headed towards the location where the final battle would take place. Leave it to him to choose that moment to be romantic. He always did have bad timing. But he’d pulled out the jewelry box, and Summer had looked at him like he was crazy._

_“Qrow! Is now really the best time?” Her reprimand, wasn’t exactly received as she’d thought, he was almost positive of that._

_“There is never a wrong time for me to shower you with gifts and praise, shortstack.” He’d given her that smirk that he knew melted her from the inside out, and she’d rolled her eyes and accepted the box, and she’d opened it. He could still remember her tiny gasp, and the way her eyes had shifted up to meet his._

_“How-------Qrow, Oh my Gods, it’s beautiful.”_

_She’d put it on, almost immediately after that, the necklace looked beautiful resting at the hollow of her throat. A golden and red rose with a tiny gem resting at it’s center._

_It’d only been a few hours that she’d had it on, before she’d taken it off, putting it back in the box, and handing it back to him. Safe keeping, she’d called it. She was afraid something would happen to it during the fight. She didn’t know that he’d lose something far more precious that day._

He held the same box in his hands now, “It was your mom’s.” 

Summer would’ve wanted her to have it. 

\-----------------------------

Ruby accepted the box, if there was anything her Uncle was great at (other than the obvious things), it was birthday gifts. They were all so thoughtful and they all held so much meaning, so to hear that this one had been her mother’s she offered him a smile, “Thank you.”

She opened the box, eyes growing wide, the smallest intake of breath lips parted as she looked at it in shock. It was beautiful. The chain was designed like a stem of a rose, the pendant a small golden and red rose, with a tiny diamond at the center of the blossom. She lifted it from the box, and put it on. Or rather attempted to. 

He laughed, and “Let me help you, before you hurt yourself, Pipsqueak.”

“Oh shut up.”

“Be nice, or I won’t give you your other present.”

She made a pouty face as he secured the clasp of the necklace. The door opened again, and with everyone already in the house she wasn’t sure who could possibly be trying to come in. She turned towards the door. Her jaw dropping, and a child like glee spread across her face. 

“No way! No way. No way nooooooo waaaay!”

There in the doorway stood Weiss Schnee in all her snowy haired, cold glory.


	5. You Make Me Feel Invincible Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss and Ruby talk. Qrow offers up his own opinions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting with this chapter, from here on everything written during the month of November will be used as fuel for my nanowrimo bonfire. I'm hoping to finish this fic by the end of the month, if time and such allows. It's gonna be big and beautiful. And there will be more fluff and angst than any of you know what to do with. I hope you enjoy. Leave a comment if you have any filler ideas you'd like to see. And I'll see if I can add them in.

If he’d thought she’d moved fast when he’d walked in the door, the flurry of petals was no match for the Schnee standing in the doorway. Qrow was left speechless a hand coming up to scratch at his head in confusion at the precise reaction offered up by his daughter. Had he missed something? 

Yes, he must’ve. 

\----------------------------

Ruby couldn’t help but quite literally barrel into Weiss, after what had happened at the fall of Beacon, they hadn’t had a chance to discuss everything that had been said. There was a lot to talk about, especially given the things they’d both said in the mindset that it was possible they were going to die. That kinda situation tended to bring out the truth in people. 

So when the rhodochrosite haired girl had spoken the infamous three words of doom to Weiss Schnee and then proceeded to rushing up the side of Beacon Tower to a scene that could very well be the literal end of her, well, there wasn’t a lot of time for reactions or waiting around for an I love you too, for that matter. Waking up to find that she’d been forced back to Atlas had been one hell of a sucky wake up call that was for damn sure. 

But now she was here, and her arms seemed to wrap around her waist to brace for the impact of the fall that was coming, and the speed (and force) of which they were going to go down. When they made contact, skidding across the ground beyond the door, there was a soft oompf from the heiress followed by a laugh. It sounded like music. Ruby was pleased by the sound despite her worries. 

“I thought you left me!”The words were spoken muffled into Weiss’ shoulder, where Ruby had buried her face. There was an edge of panic to her tone. What? She had! She’d thought that her confession had chased Weiss all the way back to Atlas, despite being told that she was made to go back by her father. 

“If you’d have been awake, you’d know that wasn’t true.” There’s still that very Weiss, edge to her voice. That one that made her feel a chill run down her spine just by the coldness and conviction of the way it was spoken, a trait that was likely common among most Schnee’s. Maybe? She didn’t know. “Yang didn’t tell you?” She sounded upset by that. “They had to drag me kicking and screaming onto the airship.” 

Weiss’ arms untangled from around her waist, and she gave the younger girl a little shove, “Now get off me, you dolt.” 

Ruby stood up, dusting herself off. Attempting to get rid of the little specks of dirt that she’d gotten all over herself from the the initial impact. She offered a hand to Weiss, who took it and rose up from the ground herself. 

What happened next left Ruby shocked in silence. There was an edge to the air, a sort of frost that grew ever so slightly colder the closer Weiss got. She was so close, her lips mere inches from her own, and Ruby’s lips parted as a tiny gasp slipped out. “ I didn’t get the opportunity to tell you that---” So close. The smell of her was wonderful, a mix of peppermint and vanilla.   
And she wanted nothing more than for the girl to shut up and just stop talking and do what the they both knew they wanted, “---The feeling is reciprocated.”

Silver eyes widened, before falling to a close as their lips met, and her previous anxieties had been laid to rest. It was a fantastic feeling, almost like flying. No. Maybe? How could she describe it. It was weightless, like a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders in the presence of this one person in this one moment. And everything was okay. For once, the world didn’t feel like it was attempting to implode on her. 

“Weiss---”

The snow haired woman pulled back and with a quick motion she thwacked Ruby hard upside the head. “And if you ever scare me like that again, I’ll do worse!”

A slow smile spread to her features, and she knew that despite the fact that Weiss hadn’t said the words, they stood true regardless. Weiss wasn’t one for feelings. There had been a time that Ruby wondered if Weiss was even capable of love or compassion. Look how far they’d come. They’d come from enemies, to frienemies, to whatever they were now. Wait what were they now? 

“What does this mean for us?” Her smile fell, replaced by a more curious expression.

“What do you think it means?” There was that expression that Weiss gave when Ruby said something that the elder had deemed stupid. They leaned into each other, foreheads at rest against one another and Ruby sighed. 

“Best birthday ever.”

\--------------------------

He’d seen enough. Was mind bleach a thing? Could he find some? Was it sold commercially? Would enough alcohol kill the image of his daughter kissing a Schnee? Probably not. And yet, he still couldn’t help but let a smirk coming to his features as he rolled his eyes taking a sip from his flask. 

If she was happy. He was happy. 

Didn’t matter who it was with, didn’t matter the logic behind it. All that mattered was that in that moment the world wasn’t crashing down around her, and she seemed to be happy in the normalcy of the moment. 

And that was all he could ever ask for. 

He retreated from where he’d stood, technically spying on the exchange, and found himself standing in front of Ozp----Oscar’s room. It was going to take a lot of getting used to. This kid definitely wasn’t the Oz he was used to. But the old man lived in this kids mind. So obviously, anything that needed discussed with Ozpin was going to get discussed with Oscar instead, and hopefully he’d listen to Oz’s advice. 

He thought Ruby had gotten the short end of the stick in this mess. And he was far too sober for this. Honestly. It’d been a few days since he’d been wasted level drunk. He had to get this kid prepared for a life of following in Oz’s shoes. And that was going to be task all by itself. 

“We need to talk.” Such a familiar way of speaking. This was Oz after all, even if he didn’t look the same, he was definitely there. And in the subtle shift of the way Oscar seemed to hold himself, Qrow was well aware that he was in the presence of exactly the man he wanted to speak to. 

“Indeed we do, Qrow.”

\--------------------------

Ruby led Weiss inside and the Schnee sat down at the kitchen’s bar, while Ruby got to work preparing them some coffee. It was going to be a long night, there was a lot to talk about. The past few months had been insane. And there was so much to cover, and she wanted to tell all. And she wanted to see it all. And she wanted Weiss to know the truth. Because if anyone deserved to know the truth it was Weiss. Especially now that she was here and she knew that the other’s feelings were well, a thing. 

She felt pretty damn invincible at the moment. Like nothing could touch her. She wished that were the case. She knew soon as she came down from cloud nine, she’d find herself in the same boat. An untrained Silver Eyes with a bounty on her head. 

She passed Weiss a cup of coffee, before coming back around the bar and taking her own seat next to her. “Now talk. I want to know everything.” 

\----------------------------

Weiss rolled her eyes. Of course she did. It was one of the things she greatly admired about Ruby, despite the fact that she’d never outwardly admit such things. Her curiosity was both adorable and annoying. Leave it to Ruby to figure out how to make something both equal parts of both sensations. 

“So after you left, I kept fighting the Grimm. Then I remember a bright light, illuminating literally everything, and then the Grimm were--- Well gone. Except for the dragon. Which had been frozen?” There was a confused edge to her voice, with good reason. She still didn’t understand how the hell it had happened. She’d get those answers when it was her turn to demand them. “And I came up after you, afraid that something had happened. Which it did. When I got to the top of the what was left of the tower, you were unconscious, there was no sign of Pyrrha, and everything had been destroyed.”

Weiss took a dainty sip of her drink, she’d have to worm her way out of such practices eventually learn to have to fun. All that fun stuff. “I brought you down. And your Uncle must be some kind of crazy magic, because it was like he knew. “

She wondered if the old man was laughing about her comment in the other room. If he’d heard her that was, “You don’t even know the half of it-----Keep going.”

“I followed you to the safe point and stayed with you, until my father sent some particularly intelligent military goons to drag me back home. I tried to stop them. I didn’t want to leave you. Especially after what you said----”She felt so small preparing to say the words. “I wasn’t strong enough.” 

She could see the surprise cross Ruby’s features at her confession. But she remained quiet, good. If it had been Yang, no doubt there would’ve been a joke or two made about how she’d admitted weakness for once. “Everything was so miserable, Ruby.” Her voice held an edge, like the sharpest blade. 

“Weiss, what happened?”

“It was like before I started at Beacon. All over again. Like I was some pawn in a chess game that my father has convinced himself needs to be played to keep a hold of what he’s deemed the legacy of Schnee name. The brand he’s giving my mother’s name is garbage.” She sighed, the briefest of pauses before continuing. “ I summoned a Grimm at his charity event and it attacked someone because she was talking as if Vale deserved what happened. As if Beacon deserved what happened. I kinda lost it.” 

Small hands came up to dab at the tears she felt beading up in her eyes. “After that he made it impossible for me to go anywhere without one of his goons stopping me.” He’d said she was grounded. No. It was worse than being grounded. She’d been grounded. Hell she’d been cut off before. That hadn’t been being grounded, that was straight up imprisonment. “He gave my birthright to my weasel of a little brother, and forged a statement saying I forfeited it to him because I was unwell. So I trained. I perfected my summoning. And I ran.”

“Your uncle found me in the market asking about Winter, and brought me here.”

Weiss sipped at her coffee again, eyes taking in the sight of Ruby. The younger girl looked so much older than she had when they’d seen each other about a year ago. “My father is destroying my family name. Running my legacy into the ground. There’s a part of me, that wants to bring some sort of honor back to the Schnee name, the other part of me wants to kill every trace of it.” By it she was referring to the name. “After what I did, it’s not like I’m going to be accepted back at home anyway.”

Weiss turned her head towards the sound of heavy footsteps coming from the other room, a door opened and Qrow stepped out. Ruby was about to speak when her Uncle spoke instead. 

“Fuck ‘em.” Ruby’s face held a shocked expression. 

“Excuse me?”The words fell from Weiss’ lips as a horrified expression plastered itself to her features.

“Your old man is a joke, Weiss. There’s no honor left to the Schnee name to even begin attempting to rebuild a good reputation for it.” He shrugged taking a long drink from his flask. “And if he can’t see that what you’re doing with your life is worth something more to the world than a couple million lien, then he’s a fucking idiot. So yeah, fuck ‘em.” 

A smile spread across Weiss’ face, “And one more thing----” Oh boy, “If you hurt my niece, your family will be the least of your problems. Got it, Princess?”

“I uh---”Way to be articulate, Weiss. “Yes sir, Mr. Branwen!”

“That’s Uncle Qrow to you.”

Weiss turned her attention back to Ruby, as Qrow walked away, heading out the front door. After a moment some super tanned kid followed after him, and then the two girls were left alone in each other’s company. Silently confused as to what the hell had just transpired. It was Weiss who broke the silence. “Did I just get adopted by your Uncle?”

“For lack of a better term, yes. I think he likes you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in the chapter I refer to Ruby as Rhodochrosite haired this is why: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Quartz-Rhodochrosite-Tetrahedrite-gem7-x3c.jpg


	6. You Make Me Feel Invincible Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a lot of shit goes down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear lord guys. This chapter is all over the place. But I had a lot to cover to keep the story on track. So here we have it. NaNoWriMo chapter # 2. I'll be writing another one tonight before midnight, unless I take a nap, just so that I can stay on my word count. Bear with me, cause like I said, this chapter is all over the place, and it's not exactly the best written. But I promise my skills will come back hopefully after I've actually had some sleep. xD

Weiss was more than a little shocked at the new development. Honestly. What else was she supposed to feel? From the way Winter talked, Qrow couldn’t stand anyone with the last name Schnee, said their entire family was full of stiffs. Or something to that extent. She wasn’t entirely sure, Winter had been muttering under her breath a lot during that conversation. 

The Schnee turned her attention to her partner, an eyebrow raising as she watched Ruby drink from her own mug. “Alright, so I spilled my guts. It’s your turn.”

Ruby sat down her mug offering up a nod and began spinning her tale. 

\-----------------------

There was silence as the golden haired huntress walked through the people gathered listening to a masked woman speak of dangers that would come, that were coming. Yang could give her mother props for one thing, that woman sure did know how to rally her troops to follow her into Hell. At this point, she’d even follow her, if it wasn’t for the fact that she’d come to attempt to rally forces to her cause, and not the other way around. 

When Raven Branwen finally went quiet, Yang was the first, and the only, to raise applause an edge of sarcasm in her slow motions. What could she say? She’d come all this way, encountered a particularly skeezy guy, who’d gotten his teeth knocked out, and now that she was standing in so close to her mother, with a chance to actually get answers. It dawned on her that maybe she didn’t want to know why the woman didn’t want her. 

No. All she was here for was the help that she’d hopefully find, that was if Raven was even willing to give up her time and her effort to provide the help her daughter came seeking. Did she even care? 

It didn’t matter. All that mattered at the moment was the fact that Raven’s Tribe didn’t seem to like the way she’d acted, and their weapons were all drawn and pointed at her. Good thing she found it increasingly difficult to be afraid faced with situation, given what she’d been through months ago. She pushed a few blades away from her as she made her way through the crowd. It wasn’t until she was standing directly in front of Raven that she actually said something. “We need to talk, Mom.”

The roar of questions echoed in her ears, as lilac eyes stared up to meet crimson as her mother pulled the Grimm mask from her face. “Oh, and you might wanna send someone out to fetch your flunkies, turns out picking a fight with me wasn’t the smartest decision they made today.”

\-------------------------

Cat ears gave the slightest twitch in the breeze. Her father’s speech could’ve gone better. As it was, Sienna Khan had made an appearance to speak with them in regards to the remaining loyal members of the White Fang, and Blake had to admit she was more than a little shocked when the woman had agreed to send forces to Haven Academy to assist in it’s protection. Numbers that would include herself. 

“I can’t demand the Fang to act without leading by example. I refuse to let Adam Taurus define our ranks. There are still some of us that are good.” That’s what the Tiger Faunus had said when asked what she’d do. Honestly Blake was happy that the coming chaos was uniting the Faunus in the goal that they’d been trying to achieve all along. 

She was pulled from her thoughts as a hand clapped down on her shoulder, and she turned to meet Sun’s pleased expression. “Seems like things are going better than you planned, huh?”

She had to admit, he had a point there. Things were going far better than she could’ve ever anticipated. With Sienna Khan having joined their ranks, other Faunus were joining them as well. Random civilians of Menagerie offering up their assistance and their time towards the efforts in Mistral. Things were going pretty well, actually.

“Don’t jinx it.” The slight curve of a smile rose to her features and she nodded, “I talked to my dad, he’s sending my mom with us while he stays here to take care of the people. With our current numbers if we leave in the morning we’ll make it to Mistral in a few weeks.”

“Are you excited?” Sun spoke as he lept up onto the railing just outside her father’s office. His balance precarious at best. 

“For what?”

“To be reunited with your friends.”

“I’m terrified.”

\--------------------------------

After they talked Ruby had suggested that they watch a movie. Something to help them wind down after the emotional topics of conversation. The last several months had been hard on the both of them. They’d cried about it, and then dropped on the couch Weiss’ scroll held between them as they watch one of the films she had downloaded onto the device. 

The younger couldn’t tell you exactly when she’d fallen asleep, the day had been long, with a lot of pleasant surprises. But she’d fallen asleep at some point during the movie with her head resting on Weiss’ shoulder. 

Ruby’s eyes opened at the gentle shake of her shoulder. Groggy silver eyes opened to meet crimson. Weiss had since gotten up, and she realized that she was laid out across the couch when her Uncle had woken her up. “Go to bed, Ruby.” She pulled herself up off the couch, her movements slow as she moved towards the bedroom. Her eyes not finding Weiss anywhere to be found. “Where’s Weiss?” She yawned.

“Out looking for Winter.”

Ruby muttered a quiet, “Oh, okay.” And trudged off towards her bed. 

\------------------------------

She had to know that things were going to be different, especially with Atlas recalling it’s military and closing it’s borders. She couldn’t find Winter anywhere. There was no trace of her at all. She needed to get a letter to Ironwood. She’d learned a lot in the time that short few hours that she’d been there. Scrolls weren’t safe. Letters weren’t safe. The only thing that could be deemed effective would be talking in person. 

Which was impossible. No one would be getting in or out of Atlas for a while, meaning she was in fact, duely screwed. 

Fantastic. If they could get Ironwood on board, things would be far better than if they tried to go up against this Salem person alone. Not to mention the White Fang, and it’s chaotic nature. She wished that Winter was here. She needed advice. Her sister would know what to do. Instead she headed back to the house, deciding that maybe it was better if she got some sleep, and dealt with it tomorrow.

Maybe. 

Or maybe it’d finally happened. Maybe she’d been cut off from her entire family. Even the one person that seemed to matter. And despite being surrounded by her friends, as Weiss made her way to an empty room to get some rest, she’d never felt more alone in the world. 

\---------------------------------

It was weird. 

Being woken up to the sounds of a cane thudding on her bedroom door. Eyes opened and Ruby looked around the room. Unsure of what she’d find when she opened her eyes, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the sun had come up and was hanging high in the sky. It had to be around noon. 

She yawned as another loud thud came with the hit of the cane against the wood of the door again. That had to be the only thing making that sound. “Ruby, wake up. Don’t make me come in there.”

Why was Weiss beating on her door with a cane? Why was there hushed whispering beyond the door? Why was she awake when she was having such a good dream? “I’m up.”She called out, which seemed to make the voices beyond the door retreat. 

Her motions were awkward as she pulled herself from her bed, and ran a brush through her hair, not bothering to change out of her pajamas. If anyone had an issue with her being comfortable, well boo on them. She trudged to the door, opening it and head towards the kitchen. Coffee. Coffee and breakfast and she’d be human. She promised. 

And upon her arrival it was like Weiss had read her mind. There was a plate of left over pancakes sitting on the bar, with a steaming cup of coffee, and the young huntress offered a grin to her partner, as she sat down and began consuming the sustinance provided. “Oscar?” Her head tilted to the side catching sight of the boy. 

“No, Miss. Rose.” Ah so it was Ozpin this morning. Okay. That would explain things. Which meant they were either going to get another history lesson the stories of Remnant or a fighting lesson. Which one was it going to be.

“Please tell me today is a good day for history lesson.”

There was a soft laugh from Ozpin and she wilted at the sound. “I would, if that were the case.”


	7. The Eyes Have It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Summer-centric chapter, not for the squeemish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS A PROPER WARNING. DO NOT IGNORE THIS IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF TORTURE INVOLVING THE EYES. 
> 
> This chapter has a darker tone, and a crueler tone. Please heed my warning. This chapter is not for the feint of heart. There will be squicky eye gore in this chapter, and I recommend that you skip the middle section between the ------ if this makes you uncomfortable.

There was a profound silence in the air as Summer sat in Salem’s presence. As there almost always was when the two of them were together. She’d learned a long time ago that it was better to only speak when spoken to around Salem. And that was enough to keep her quiet. Her thoughts wandered. 

A horrible thing to allow to happen anymore. When her thoughts wandered she found them in places that she wished to avoid. Dwelling on things that no one could change. One such thing had been the day that Salem had ensured that she’d no long be a threat to her cause. Well at least not a direct threat. 

\-------------------------------

She’d been alone. Left shivering in a cell, she could hear the Grimm sprouting from the pools of black around her. She tried to drag her thoughts away from the sounds, and found that she couldn’t. 

Summer knew that her situation wasn’t going to end well. By now she knew that surely no one was looking for her anymore. If they had been at all. She toyed with the ring on her finger in silence, and there had been a point where she’d thought about pulling it off and throwing it away. As if she could throw away everything that had been taken away from her. From her children. 

Yang, her tiny little firecracker, had lost a second mom, and Ruby, was too young to likely even remember her when she got older. And Qrow. Qrow must’ve been blaming himself for this, she wished she’d had the chance to tell him one last time that this wasn’t his fault. Two sets of footsteps echoed in the air down the hallway leading to her cell. One set heavier than the other. 

It was time. They’d come back for her, promises that the end was near dwelling in her thoughts. She wasn’t sure if it was meant to be a ploy to destroy her defenses, or if they were being honest. Either way, she was sure the scare tactic had been chosen for a reason. They wanted to reduce her to a terrified mess every time she heard footsteps and wondered if this would be the moment she’d die. 

On that day it was the Doctor. Followed by a larger, bulkier man that she’d never had the displeasure of meeting. She tried to lose herself in the memories like she had every other time, but her focus was blurring, and she couldn’t seem to recall the ones that calmed her the most. On rare occasions anymore she could hear, what was no doubt a hallucination, Qrow’s voice calling to her, attempting to keep her holding on. But that was the extent of the relief she got. 

She flinched back, her body moving of it’s own accord without much thought from her, pressing herself back into the corner of the cobblestoned cell. The wall was cold against her skin, causing a soft whimper to escape her lips. 

“Is this necessary?” The larger male asked. He almost sounded disgusted by the idea of further tormenting her. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. 

“Her Grace says we must, so yes. Hazel it is necessary.”

The brute looked at her with eyes that spoke volumes. She was shocked to find that one person in this place believed that she didn’t deserve this. More so she was shocked to find that one of them had a modicum of basic human decency. It was refreshing. In a sense. But there was still an edge of roughness when he gripped onto her arm and yanked her to her feet. 

She was thrown over his shoulder as if she was nothing more than a small child. She didn’t know where they were taking her, or what they were going to do. And given that she was terrified there was only one thing left to do, and that was fight. She tried to fight her way free, but it didn’t take long for it to grow tiring before she’d found herself force into unconsciousness. 

When she’d come to, she’d been left tied down to a medical table. Her binds holding her down with no room for movement. This was new. A first. Since when did he pull her from her tiny little cell to torture her. He never had before. 

Again footsteps echoed, the singular pair belonged to the man she’d come to call the Doctor. Simply because she wasn’t aware of his name beyond the title. He laid out some tools on the metal stand beside the table she’d been laid out on. A pair of gloves snapped into place, silver eyes looked crazed, as she tried to figure a way out of the situation. There was none. She was a sitting duck. 

Practiced, skilled fingers, pried her eyelid open in silence. A scalpel descended and further panic led the way for screams. “No! NO! Please, please no. No.” The words came tumbling as the surgical knife grew closer and closer, sliding in, in careful precise motions. The sight in her right eye had grown blurry with tears and the pain, and then with a single clean cut motion, there was nothing to be seen. Her left eye had screwed itself shut in an attempt to protect itself. Screamed cries and choked sobs escaped her lips. The pain had been overwhelming. Her lungs hadn’t been powerful enough to produce the sound she wished she could, no. They hadn’t even been strong enough to keep pushing oxygen into her blood. 

She’d lost consciousness at some point between the time she’d felt her right eye fall from her head, and the moment he’d wrenched open her left to repeat the process. Blood ran down her face mixed with the tears that spilled forth. 

And when she regained consciousness, the world was dark. And the manic laughter of Tyrian had replaced the cold silence of the Doctor. “Now you’re nothing more than a domesticated house pet.” The laugh was cruel, an assault on her ears, and giving way to her excruciating headache. 

\---------------------------------

Summer’s attention was pulled back to the present moment, as Salem began to speak, and she knew she’d better be listening. Her hands shifted, rising up to the tighten the black blindfold that she kept over her eyes. The piece of fabric hiding what she’d come to be ashamed of. Her weakness. 

When she finally did make it back home, what would Qrow say?

“I believe you’re almost ready to fulfill your purpose.” Salem’s voice was an echo in her head. The room filled, “You’ve proven your loyalties as of lately, my Rose, soon you’ll be put into play.”

She believed that if Salem was the mastermind playing the game of chess, the woman must’ve believed her to be the Queen. Her most powerful asset. The one with the biggest hand to play, the one with the most connections within the inner circle. The one with the direct access to Qrow Branwen and her daughter. 

But while the Grimm Queen was cunning, Summer was just as. She played the part of an obedient little pet, waiting for the perfect moment to plot her escape, and she would be free. It was only a matter of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who elected to skip the area between the ------- brackets, Summer is blind. And had her eyes taken on Salem's order, as a way to negate her powers as a Silver Eyed Warrior.


	8. A Series of Startling Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang has a chat with her mother, Raven has a secret, Winter knows something, and Ozpin learns a startling truth about Weiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the idea that I ran with in this chapter, hit me like a ton of bricks and flew in out of the blue uninvited. But I couldn't say no, because the idea was too beautiful. So enjoy Chapter 3 of the NaNoWriMo Chapters, and I hope you find joy in the first of many major plot twists. <3

“What do you mean you want me to give you my men?” Raven’s voice was quiet, but the edge to it was enough for Yang to get the point that her mother wasn’t pleased with the notion. 

“You heard me. I want to take your best fighters to Mistral.” Two evenly matched women were at odds with each other. Anyone looking in on the conversation from the outside wasn’t seeing a diplomatic talk but the fight that was going inside the leaders tent. Blades and metal guantlets crashing into each other. 

“Absolutely not. Who will defend my camp?”

Yang could not believe this woman. So ridiculously stubborn and cold, she was glad she’d gotten her father’s warm hearted nature that was for damn sure. She was almost certain that she wouldn’t have been able to live her life as cold and cruel as her mother. 

“It won’t matter if there’s no camp left for you to defend!”

Yang wasn’t an idiot. She knew the depth of what was happening. The White Fang, Adam Taurus, Cinder and her motley crew. There wasn’t much more to be said on the matter, the world was falling apart and it was only a matter of time before people not involved began to suffer the consequences too. 

In a quick motion, Yang’s arm jutted out, delivering a well aimed punch to her mother who was still attempting to block her other arm. She knocked her all the way back into the wood carved throne inside the tent. 

“If you’re half the Bandit Queen you claim to be, you’ll give me what I ask for. Because there’s no promise that any of you will survive what’s coming if you don’t.”

\-------------------

Since she’d had to save her, Raven could say she was proud of how far Yang had come. From being passed out on a train, to being war scarred and standing in front of her demanding things like she wasn’t one of the most terrifying women on the face of Remnant. Raven adjusted herself on the throne, she’d been quite literally thrown into. An expression of indifference on her features. 

“What’s in it for me?”

Raven could keep her people out of it. She could send Vernal off to wherever, despite the fact that the girl was her best asset, and she could keep her people out of it. Or she could gift Yang what she wanted. A sort of reward for how far she’d come. 

The woman debated what to do. On the one hand, if she’d elected to stay out of it, there was a chance they’d still be dragged in. Might as well jump right into the fray and give the kid what she wanted. They had safe houses in the underground of Mistral. They had places to hide among it’s citizens within the Kingdom. 

“The satisfaction of knowing you did the right thing for once.” Her daughter’s words were surprisingly cold, the edge to them actually managed to sting a little. Not that she’d ever tell anyone about such weakness. 

“Very well. But know this, should I feel our presence is jeopardizing the wellbeing of my family as a whole, we will leave, and you’ll be left fighting whatever war your preparing for on your own.”

Yang made an indignant sound, “Gods forbid you do the same for you blood.” And with her harsh words Raven watched as her daughter turned and walked away. No doubt they’d talk again later. 

Following her exit, one of the younger members of the Tribe stepped into the Queen’s tent. The small brown haired girl stood with a pair of headphones resting around her neck, and a slight smirk came to Raven’s features. Her second strongest asset, in the form of a fourteen year old girl with a powerful semblance. Behind the girl, rested a pair of birds wings neatly folded against her back, the young Faunus was the daughter of one of her former advisors, who’d been killed taking down a particularly strong enemy. 

He’d been commended with a burial fit for a damn king for his honor, and his strength in defending their tribe. “We’re going to Mistral?”

The bandit Queen offered a nod to the girl, who seemed to be far more enthused than she should’ve been. Then again, the child had never been out of the camp let alone into one of the Kingdoms. Raven knew that the girl had always wanted to attend Haven. She was far too pure hearted for the life of a bandit, which by no means meant that she was a push over, or weak. When Lark put her mind to it, she was deadly in a battle. But she’d never taken another life. Not weak. Just far too pure. Raven had elected to believe that there was a difference in this case. “Yes. If you want to enroll in the academy, I won’t stop you.” 

There was a spark of childlike glee across the girl’s features. “You’re serious? Oh my Gosh, you’re serious! I can enroll in Haven? I promise if I get in, I’ll come home at the end of every semester and I’ll show you guys all the things I learned and it’ll be awesome. You won’t regret it, Mom. I promise!”

\--------------------------------

Larkin was more than shocked to find that her Mom had finally agreed to let her go to Haven. After everything that happened with her dad, she’d been kept close to home, and trained to become Raven’s successor. Something that had been decided would be a bloodline position until the bloodline ran out. 

She didn’t know that her mother had another child, as it turned out, Raven never talked about Yang. Or her life before she’d taken control of the Tribe from it’s previous leader, who had taken over when Raven had been exiled, losing her place as the next Chief of their Tribe. She said that she’d married her father, so that she could produce an heir to the tribe’s throne, and she often talked of how proud she was of her daughter’s strength. 

But Larkin had always wanted more. She wanted to be more than the Chief’s daughter. She wanted to be more than an asset. She wanted to train and hone her skills, so that she could protect her family better. And she’d pushed and pushed and pushed going to Haven. And finally it was going to happen. “You won’t regret it, Mom. I promise!”

“I’d better not. I’d hate for you to disappoint me.” 

Larkin’s face took on a more serious expression, and she nodded. After all, she was Larkin Branwen, successor to the largest Bandit tribe in Remnant. She didn’t disappoint. She aimed to please. “I won’t, Ma’am. I’ll make our Tribe proud.” And she would. She promised.

\------------------------------------

Ruby flew back, the force of the strikes knocking her off balance. Her fists came up to block the next few attempts to strike her. One, two. Block. One, two, three. Strike. One. Block. Two. Block. Three. Jump back. She’d gotten into a rhythm. Ozcar -that’s what they’d elected to call him, since Cute Boy Ozpin didn’t seem to do it for the Professor- nodded in approval, his motions not stopping. “Nice job, Miss. Rose. You’re improving. 

“Eh---you know. Just trying to keep you from leaving anymore,” Dodge. “Bruises.”

\------------------------------------

Ren and Nora watched from the rooftop of their temporary home, Ren brought his hand to rest over top of Nora’s as she looked down on the sparring match, and the others who had gathered down below to watch Ruby spar with the Professor and Oscar. “I’m kinda glad everything has settled down a little bit.”

Ren turned to look at Nora, an eyebrow raised at her statement, before a smile spread to his lips. “I thought you liked the chaos.”

“Only sometimes. It’s nice to get to pretend for a little while that the world isn’t falling apart. Ya know?” The past couple days had been nice. Nora had to give the situation credit for awarding them some fragment of normalcy. She’d adjusted to the concept of everything that seemed outrageously insane, and she’d adjusted to the normalcy of living the last almost year on the edge. But it was nice to just kick back and get to be a kid again, if only for a little a while. 

“I understand. The last few days have been a refreshing change.”

The small ginger girl, allowed her head to fall to rest against her partner. A finger coming up to press lightly against the tip of his nose. “Boop.”

“Oh no. I have been attacked by the mighty huntress.”Ren wrinkled his nose, ever so slightly and Nora looked up and beamed him a grin.

“I am the mightiest huntress!” A soft laugh escaped her lips, and she wondered if he was ever going to realize it, if she didn’t say it outloud. She wasn’t sure, and honestly, she was afraid that they were running out of time. Just look at Pyrrha and Jaune. She’d waited and they’d never even had a shot. She was gone before they even had a chance to be happy together. “Hey Ren?”

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

There was the softest of contented sighs from the quiet male, and an almost serene smile came to rest on her own features at his response. 

“I love you too.”

Down below, Nora could hear the chatter of the sparring match coming to an end, as Ozcar brought Jaune up to bat, an attempt to no doubt awaken his semblance.

“I believe that is enough for now. Take a break, Ruby. Mr. Arc.” Ozcar gestured at the location they’d been using as a training ground. Ruby watched Jaune made his way to where she’d been previously standing, and Ruby took a seat on the ground next to Weiss, accepting the bottle of water her girlfriend offered up. 

Nora shifted, before breaking away from Ren. “Let’s go watch.”

\------------------------

Winter Schnee didn’t visit home often. Much like Weiss, she’d made her bed, and she had to lie in it. Home was for the obedient pets that her father preferred and as it was, she and Weiss had never quite fit that mold. So for her to be back in the halls of Schnee Manor was a bit disorienting to say the least. But General Ironwood had requested her to join him on his next adventure to speak with her father, Jacques. Who no doubt would attempt to keep her grounded in the manor by some feat of ignorance. He never did understand her willingness to go to war, instead of living the pampered life of a sheltered pet. 

“Father.”

Jacques turned his attention to General Ironwood, one of his classic expressions mimicking shock rested on his features. “Did you actually decide to return my daughter to me?”

“On the contrary.” It was Winter who spoke, she would not be deterred in her mission. “I’ve come for Weiss.”

There were no opportunities for her to give attention to Father’s outrageous insinuations. She was not here because she wanted to be. But because a superior, and a friend -possibly more than- had asked her to be. What they needed from Weiss was going to be a lot to ask of anyone. 

“I’m afraid I can’t give you Weiss, Winter. She’s not here.”

Eyes narrowed and brows knit together. “Don’t lie to me.”

“Oh it’s not a lie, Klein aided in her escape, no doubt she’s snuck her way off to Mistral. That’s where she’d informed Klein she’d be going.” She’d noticed an extreme lack of the kind older man. “And before you think to ask, daughter, I don’t know where the old man is. I relieved him of his duties a month ago, and haven’t heard from him since.”

Oh no. Gods no. Winter kept her expression calm against the raging storm of emotions that threatened to tear her apart inside. Weiss was in Mistral, the very place they’d learned was the next target for the senseless violence that had caused the Fall of Beacon. “A shame that you closed our borders, isn’t it, General.” Her father’s words grated her nerves, he’d never understand the depth of exactly what was going on here. As long as he remained protected in their posh manor, with everything handed to him on a silver platter. 

It didn’t matter to him that his youngest daughter was in a position that could kill her. It didn’t matter to him that the world was falling apart, because his world still stood strong. He was still the damn hero of his story. And Gods forbid the man ever actually learned exactly how wrong he was. 

She was out of her seat and she’d stormed from her father’s office without much thought, her feet carried out of the house and back to the airship they’d arrived on. A hand caught her wrist as she went to take the first step aboard, stopping her. “Calm down, Schnee.” His Commander voice was meant to scare her into submission. Fearing for her job or something of that nature. It didn’t. Pretenses of rank were gone, she was more worried about the fact that her little sister was trapped outside of Atlas’ borders, with no connection to her allies within. 

“If you expect me to sit back and do nothing----!” She was stopped the force of his voice. 

“I expect you to follow orders!”

Winter took a deep breath, the only order she was even remotely willing to follow at the moment. When she’d calmed, she looked up at him, a fierce and cold determination in her eyes. Thankful that no one else was around to hear her next words, “I am not asking you this as your subordinate. I am asking you this as your friend. Let me go after her, James. You’re the only one who can give the order to get me out of Atlas. I have to find Weiss, before they find out the truth.”

A truth she’d only come to know a few months prior, the Maidens. The relics. The stories that were all true to some respect, she’d been pulled in headfirst, when they’d told her that a Schnee was the Winter Maiden. Ironwood had explained that at first, they’d believed it was her. Considering the powers sense of irony for choosing nomenclatures. But as it turned out, the power had been passed to an unknowing Weiss upon the death of the last Winter Maiden only a short year ago. 

\---------------------------

For Weiss the past few weeks had been strange. Chaotic even. It’d started before she’d escaped, an occurrence that had only happened once. Where in her frustration she’d managed to freeze over half of her bedroom, in a violent burst of power from which she had no idea it’s origin. 

And smaller, similar incidents in the stress of her escape from Atlas. She’d thought it’d been some sort of freak accident, dust particles in the air or something. But now sitting in the living room with Team RNJR, Qrow, and Oscar, Ozpin? (That whole thing was honestly confusing the hell out of her) Things were starting to make some small amount of sense. Ozcar had noticed the mark that she’d never seen when she’d shrugged off the jacket over her dress for their fight. 

And then the crazy had begun. The fight had ended before it could even get started and they were all ushered inside to discuss matters that honestly confused her. 

“You mean to tell me that I’m a living breathing fairytale?”Weiss’ eyes narrowed, “That’s crazy.”

“I mean there’s a lot of crazy going on, Weiss. If Professor Ozpin thinks you’re a Maiden, then you probably are. He’s been doing this sorta thing a lot longer than any of us.” Ruby’s voice was the voice of reason, and she wasn’t sure if she was thankful or miserable at the idea. 

“But why me?”

“That’s something we’ll never know. When the host dies, if the person in the previous maiden’s thoughts is not applicable for the transfer of power, it seeks out another host at random. You just happened to be the soul that the Maiden’s power chose. Take my advice, Miss. Schnee. Keep that mark covered and be as discreet as possible. No one beyond our allies must know the power you possess.”

She didn’t ask for any power. She didn’t want this. Whatever it was, whatever it meant for her. She didn’t want it. What was she supposed to do? Pretend it didn’t exist? “This is insane, magic isn’t real. The only magic in the world is dust. People don’t have magic!”

As if to prove her point, Weiss raised her hand, willing ice to appear. Nothing happened. “S----” She’d begun to exclaim her rightfulness, when a series of large icicles sprouted from the wall across the room. “No. This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening.”

She needed to get some air.


	9. Timing is Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss is being a drama queen, Ruby sets her straight. Blake is almost to Mistral, and Summer receives some exciting news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting into master plot, guys. I'm so proud. Everything is working it's way towards the climax, and all of our babies are gonna be reunited sooooon. Are you excited?

A few weeks had passed since Weiss had learned the truth, and as expected she wasn’t handling it well. From what Ruby could tell, her girlfriend had gotten pretty wrapped up in trying to figure out exactly what she was doing with her newfound magic, and in doing so, she’d been putting distance between her friends and herself again. A fact that unsettled Ruby more than it normally would, given Weiss’ usual demeanor. 

Pushing away the people who had agreed to protect her wasn’t exactly the smartest decision under the sun. Her attention turned to her Uncle who was the last person remaining at the table with her. Everyone else had cleared out. 

An exasperated noise of frustration left her lips, sounding something like a mixture between a sigh, a groan, and anger, and she dropped her head to the table after pushing her plate away. “Why is trying to take care of people so damn hard!?” Her eyes turned up to look at her Uncle, whose eyebrows had raised as he lifted his flask. 

“Because it’s not your job?” There was the distinctive sound of metal coming to rest on the wooden table, “Protecting people and taking care of them are two different things, Pipsqueak.”

“But I can’t protect her if she keeps pushing me away. It’s like she too afraid to let her friends get close. Like we’re fragile and can’t fight. I just--- Ughhhhh, what do I do?” Yang had always been the good motivator. The one that was good at kicking people’s asses back in gear when they started doing things that were harmful to their health. Ruby was always more of the tell people how it is when they let their head get clouded kinda person. Soothing anxiety and pulling someone back from the brink of doing something insane was two different things. 

“Talk to her? Have you tried that?”

Ruby straightened, the expression on her face almost asking her next question. “Do you think I haven’t tried that? She keeps telling me that she’s fine, and that she’s not distancing herself, but anyone with eyes can see that she is. Like she’s trying to protect us instead! And it’s our job to protect her!”

The sound of the laugh from Qrow confused her. “I meant have you tried telling her how you feel on the matter. Communication is key to a relationship, kid. It doesn’t just happen and then everything’s all sunshine and rainbows.” The sound of his voice said he spoke from experience. Huh, far as she knew according to her dad, he’d always been a bit of a loner outside of the team. 

She huffed, pushing her chair back, which wasn’t smart, given it got caught on one of the ridges in the floor and down she went, with a surprised shriek. “Ow.” And as if to make matters worse, aside from the tangled mess of her and the chair, her plate clattered from the table when her foot hit it, crashing to the floor and shattering. “Shit.”

“I’m going to get a drink, don’t wait up for me.” Ruby’s eyes followed after her Uncle, whose demeanor had changed in a few short seconds, leaving her confused, until it made sense. 

“Hey. It’s not your fault I’m a klutz, Uncle Qrow.” 

\---------------------------------

If he’d have turned around to look at her, and the oddly painted picture of her attempting to get up from the chair that had hit the floor with her in it, she’d have seen the soft smile that curved onto his lips. 

In truth the whole conversation had made him need a drink. What with everything that had come up, and the talk of communication, old memories had been stirred up and honestly he just wanted to let himself forget. But years of practice in erasing the pain, and he still couldn’t stop the ache that hit his heart every time he thought about Summer. 

And Ruby was sometimes too much like her mother. Not just in appearance but personality too. She’d gotten so many of her mom’s quirks. Right down to the way she’d effortlessly found ways to take the blame away from him in any less than ideal situations. 

“If you could see her now, Rosebud, I think you’d be proud of her.”

\-------------------------------

They’d all gotten pretty used to living life on a boat. Blake especially, given the fact that she couldn’t have been off the boat for more than a month before she was back on it traveling across the ocean again. Their destination was Haven. With the scroll she’d retrieved from Illia, that was where Adam and the other members of the Fang were headed. 

And they were going to get there first. 

There was no room for failure. 

“Whatcha thinking about?” Blake’s attention shifted from the waves over to Sun who’d yet again made his perch on the railing next to her. 

“Pushing you off the boat.” The joke left her lips before she could stop it, and say something serious. She took in the shift in expression on his face, and she let out a laugh. Blake Belladonna had told a joke, and actually laughed at it, for the first time in a few weeks. And Sun seemed floored by the notion. “No, I’m thinking about what we’re going to do when we get to Mistral.”

“We’re going to kick ass and save the day. It’s what we do.” Sun’s words were true. It did seem to be what all of them were best at. For being so young, they were experts at kicking ass and taking names. It came effortlessly almost. Except for the times when it didn’t. “And don’t worry about your friends, I’ll be right here by your side, so you don’t have to do any of this alone.”

She was shocked when his hand came to rest over top of her own. But she didn’t pull away. Instead she leaned over, her head resting against his arm. “Thanks, Sun. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you at this point.”

\---------------------------

“Weiss Schnee! We need to talk!” Ruby had elected to go with the gusto, and she just rush in ready to go. 

“Go away, Ruby, I’m busy.” Came Weiss’ response and Ruby took a deep breath. She was not leaving this room until her girlfriend listened to her. End of story.

“No. You’ve been avoiding me. You’ve been avoiding all of us.” There was an angry edge to Ruby’s voice, a very rare occasion. Ruby didn’t get angry, at least not to the extent that she’d managed. 

“No---”

“Yes! Weiss, look. You’ve spent the last three days in this room. No one’s seen you for dinner. You won’t talk to me. Or your other friends. This isn’t right!” She huffed, “You don’t have to deal with this alone. It’s our job to keep you safe. Don’t push us all away.”

Weiss melted. Her form falling to the bed, and a sigh escaped her lips. “What am I supposed to do? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Weiss, I have a target on my back, as big as your if not bigger. I’m the only person left alive who can get rid of the crazy lady that wants to destroy the world. If I get hurt, it’s not going to be because of you.”

What was it with everyone and worrying about her safety. She could handle it. She was strong. Maybe not perfectly strong, but she was strong enough. And besides, she’d been training these last few weeks with Ozcar to master her silver eyes powers. Which by the way, had sucked more than hand to hand combat training with him. 

She’d take a hundred kicks to the face if it meant never having to willingly give herself the twelve hour migraine again. 

“Please stop pushing me away.”

“Ruby I----” 

“Nope. Just don’t. No protests. Relationships require communication. Communicate with me, Weiss. Don’t hide from me.”

Her Uncle Qrow would be proud if he could hear her now.

\------------------------------

She wasn’t afraid of Ruby getting hurt because of her. No. Weiss had been keeping her distance because she was afraid she’d be the one to hurt Ruby, or someone else. And honestly, she couldn’t handle that. 

These guys were all she had left of a family. Winter had gone back home to Atlas, and Klein had no doubt been fired. And she was here, freakshow of the century with powers she couldn’t exactly control, and what happened if she got angry, or worked up and then something happened and suddenly nothing was okay anymore. What if she hurt someone? 

“I don’t want to hurt you. Okay? What if I hurt you?”

Weiss watched as silver eyes blinked at her. “Weiss, you wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Not on purpose, no. But anything can happen. All it takes it getting angry at the wrong time, or one misplaced blow, or misjudged attack, and someone can get hurt. You could get hurt, and it’d be----”

“Not your fault. You wouldn’t hurt me, not on purpose. You wouldn’t hurt any of them either. Except for maybe, Jaune, but all you’ve ever done to him was turn him down. Seriously, you have nothing to worry about, Weiss. And if you don’t get practice in with Ozcar---- then you may not be able to unlock your true potential. Just think of all the new ways you could protect people.”

Ruby and her peptalks. It was no wonder Professor Ozpin chose her to be their leader. She had a damn good way with words. It made the white haired girl wonder exactly which side of the family she’d gotten that from. She could imagine it was a trait of her mother’s though. 

“Okay.” She agreed, only because she wanted to protect Ruby. As much as Ruby wanted to protect her, if not more. And she couldn’t do that with powers she couldn’t control. “I’m going to stop hiding, and I’m going to master these powers, and I’m going to destroy anyone who tries to hurt you.”

“That’s the spirit!” Ruby seemed to ease at that, and she plopped down on the bed beside her. “I’m thinking about talking to Lionheart tomorrow, about us picking up some classes at Haven when classes start back up. Ya know, try to get things back to normal.”

\-------------------------

The click of heels on the hard floors was enough to pull Summer’s attention, Cinder. Her heels had always been obnoxiously loud and hard to ignore. The last party necessary to join them at the table. No doubt she’d been busy attempting to perfect the powers of the Fall Maiden. The task she’d been set to by Salem. 

She was well aware of everyone’s presence. And their location, merely through the sounds of their breathing. Tyrian sat diagonal to her, his new tail swishing through the air behind him, the edge of a laugh on every breath. Cinder took her seat across from her. Hazel sat to her left, Watts to her right. Mercury and Emerald stood back by the door, and Salem sat at the head, as usual. 

“There is only a brief time before we will make our move. Thanks to Cinder, we have learned that the Spring Maiden is heading to Mistral. We will bide our time until her arrival. Until then, Hazel, you continue contact with our allies within the White Fang. Tyrian, you will take over your previous mission in keeping contact with Haven’s headmaster.” She paused, “And Summer, you will prepare yourself to enter the game. You have three days, before your entry is optimal. In that time you will train with Cinder, to sharpen your skills.”

There were quiet murmurs of “Yes, your grace.” through the table’s members, including herself. But after pulling herself from her seat upon dismissal, Summer lost the fight to conceal her smile. Three days, and she’d be going home. Three days and this nightmare would be almost over. Three days, and she would be safe.


	10. Big Little White Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A series of startling truths come to light that threaten to break apart everything our heroes have built.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the longest chapter that I've written. It came to be about seven pages long, and is about 50 words under 3000. I'm super proud. Also may I just say. Let chaos begin! Because it's only going to get worse from here folks.

Tensions had seemed to die, between the team. The dynamic had returned back to it’s normal state. Training was effortless. The last two meals had actually been enjoyable, and Weiss was back to being her usual self, for the most part. Nora chalked it up to Ruby’s powers of persuasion. Honestly. No one could tell her that Ruby didn’t have a special power for talking people out of crazy. 

The rest of last night had been pretty funny. After dinner, Ruby had gone to talk to Weiss, and when she’d emerged the two had come out together, and they’d all played a game, until Qrow had stumbled in, so drunk he could hardly stand up. Which had been pretty funny. 

Nora at the moment was busy keeping herself distracted while Ren and Ruby made breakfast. Considering there were so many mouths to feed, Ren had made her practically promise not to go anywhere near the kitchen while the two cooked. So she decided she’d hang out with Jaune. 

The two of them were on the back patio, sparring at the moment, which was better than being in the house where everything smelled so good. Her stomach grumbled. 

“You’re like a vacuum cleaner, Nora. Didn’t you have a snack before we came out here?”

Yeah, she had, but what could she say, with her metabolism and her particular brand of energy, she had to eat a lot to stay well---herself. She swung her hammer out towards him, her eyes narrowing. 

“Are you making fun of me, Jaune?” Her expression remained serious, despite wanting to laugh. 

“You betcha.” And there it went. Jaune was too well accustomed to her games to play into them anymore. “All in good fun, right?”

“You betcha.”She mimicked, using the length of her hammer’s handle to knock his feet from under him.

The back door opened, revealing Weiss. “Breakfast is ready.”

So much for that. Weapons were discarded just inside the door and Nora rushed towards the table, snagging a seat and filling her plate which earned laughter from everyone involved in the meal. 

And luckily, Ruby and Ren had thought to make extra of everything, so there would be more than enough for everyone to eat. Good. That meant she could have as much as she wanted. 

\----------------------------

Raven had arrived in town last night as it would turn out. Qrow had run into her and a few of the other Tribe members while at the bar last night. That had been a shock to say the least, especially when he’d seen the familiar head of yellow that had joined her. Ruby was going to be pleased to find out that her sister was back. When she’d finally made her appearance. 

He, of course, had been sworn to secrecy. Yang had threatened to pluck his feathers, and with a temper like her mother’s no doubt she’d carry through that threat. All he knew was that she’d been coming in sometime today. And word had also gotten in to them yesterday, that Ruby’s remaining team member, the Belladonna kid, was going to be arriving sometime either tonight or tomorrow. 

He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face.

\----------------------------

Breakfast was nice. It was nice to actually have everyone at the table. Uncle Qrow, Ozcar, and everyone else too. It made the day feel like it was going to be more fruitful than the last few. Like something had changed in the air, and a new era had begun. All that cheesy fun stuff. 

She’d finished her breakfast and excused herself from the table. She had a meeting with Lionheart to attend to. Since they were going to be here, they might as well integrate themselves into the natural order of things. She headed out, Crescent Rose, at her back and started her journey towards the office of Haven’s Headmaster. 

The hallways were strangely quiet. Just like the first time she’d been here with the others when they’d visited with Uncle Qrow. She reached the door, her hands rising up to open it, only to hear the voices inside. 

That laugh sounded famil---No. Oh no. No no no no. 

She pulled out her scroll, setting to record the conversation, hands shaking. 

“The battle is coming, her Grace has made plans to deploy a secret weapon that will make everything so much easier. And the Spring Maiden, well, she’s on her way here as we speak.” There was that laugh again, Ruby’s skin crawled at the sound of it, and she had to bite her lip to keep from letting out a soft distressed noise. 

“And when you have what you want, I’ll be free?”

More of his maniacal laughter that sent shivers rippling down her spine. “Free as a bird.” The words were spoken in a tone so cruel. So severe, she started backing away. 

“When will the assault begin? I need to ensure that they’re distracted.” 

“Don’t worry about that. They’ll be distracted enough. Now, her Grace wishes to speak with you.” 

Shit shit shit shit shit shit. 

Ruby turned tail and ran, ending the recording and sending it to the others, just in case she didn’t make it out of there before the door opened. Or in case she’d already been caught. Panic settled into her chest, and she moved quickly ducking around a corner, pressing herself against a wall, Crescent Rose, drawn and ready to fight as she made her swift retreat, thankfully uncaught. 

When she stumbled back in the front door out of breath, trying to find some basic grasp on reality, was when she’d finally realized that she hadn’t been chased, or discovered. Her Uncle greeted her, with concern. “They didn’t hurt you did they?”

She shook her head, a hand coming to rest on her chest as if it was going to settle her heart and slow her breathing. It didn’t. “I didn’t-----”Breath. “Get.” Breath. “Caught.” She waited a moment before talking again. “What are we---”Deep breath, “Gonna do?”

“Something stupid.” Qrow grabbed his weapon from it’s place by the front door, and then he was gone. Nothing more than a speck in the sky as he flew off towards the academy. Ruby followed closely behind, Weiss. Ozcar seemed to stop the others from leaving. As it was, if Tyrian was the still there, she was not about to let her Uncle fight that battle alone. Not after what happened last time. 

What happened last time was your fault, anyway. 

No. She had to silence that voice right now. She had to stop that can of worms from weaseling it’s way back open. That was not the time to deal with that level of anxiety, she was already dealing with enough. “What are we going up against?”

Weiss’ voice pulled her back from the edges of the panic that had begun to set in. Silencing the chorus of one particular voice laughing at her in her mind. “A real creepshow. He’s the same guy that poisoned Uncle Qrow.”

“I thought you said you sent him running back to Miss. Crazy with his tail tucked?”

“Apparently he didn’t have enough the last time.” 

A well aimed shot propelled her the rest of the way to entrance to the academy. She could hear Qrow, he was close. Heavy footsteps hit the ground, telling her he’d decided to change back and she huffed a breath hearing the doors to Lionhearts office slam open in a rage. 

“We trusted you!” Fists slammed down on a desk and Ruby gave a startled jump stopping dead in her tracks. Eyes staring into the room from a distance. Honestly she was afraid of going in there. She’d seen her Uncle angry, but never this angry. He always had some fragment of self control. 

But this… He actually scared her. 

“I don’t---”

“Bullshit!” Ruby gasped as her Uncle reached forward and grabbed the man by the shirt, pulling him forward. 

“I’m sorry!” Lionheart’s cry pierced her ears, and she wanted to run in and stop him, but honestly, she wasn’t sure that was the best idea. 

“How long?” Qrow pulled the shaking man closer, Lionheart didn’t even seem to be reaching for his weapon. “Answer the damn question, how long!?”

“S-since my appointment as headmaster!”

Do something, Ruby. Move. Stop holding onto Weiss, and move. Or let her move. Just do something. 

Silver eyes widened as Qrow lifted the man over the desk and threw him. She rushed forward as he disappeared from view, following in the trail of the body. “Do you understand the danger you put everyone in? The danger you put my family in! My _DAUGHTER _in? Ruby is being forced to fight a battle that should’ve ended with Summer, because of scum like you!”__

__Ruby stood in the room now, his words sinking in. Daughter----- Ruby…. “What?”_ _

__The tiny question left her lips before she could stop it. Daughter. He’d said daughter. Not niece. Qrow turned her, letting Lionheart get away from him. His attention now on her. Daughter. His daughter. “I don’t understand.”_ _

__Weiss was still out in the hallway, her presence wasn’t close enough for her to have joined them in the room._ _

__Ruby was too busy staring at her----Dad? Trying to wrap her mind around exactly what was going on. A few things happened simultaneously, in the distraction of the comment the two of them lost focus, Lionheart went for his gun, and a portal opened the shing of a blade unsheathing heard as a short was fired and a dying gasp was released._ _

__The shot was close enough in range that Ruby’s aura shattered when the bullet struck, having absorbed the damage, only managing to knock her back and leave a little bit of blood. And then Yang was hovering over her, checking to see if she’d sustained a serious injury. Eyes red with anger at the thought of what happened._ _

__And all her thoughts could manage to think was that nothing in her life made sense anymore._ _

__\--------------------------_ _

__Yang hovered over Ruby, as if to protect her from anything else that might decide to hurt her. She looked like she’d been shocked, responsive and yet entirely unresponsive. And without a doubt that seemed to worry her to no end. Ruby had always been pretty good at managing her emotions, better than Yang had ever been._ _

__So for something to have her so shocked, it must’ve been pretty big._ _

__“You said, Daughter. You didn’t say niece, you said daughter.”Yang breathed a sigh of relief as soon as Ruby started speaking, she followed Ruby’s line of sight to their Uncle, then brought it back to her little sister as she pulled herself to her feet._ _

__“I’ll explain everything, Ruby. But this isn’t the place.” Her Uncle sounded exhausted, but he kept his distance._ _

__\--------------------------_ _

__Explain things her ass._ _

__She’d been waiting all damn night for him to explain things. What was so hard for him to say? All it took was the truth. She just wanted the truth. She wanted to know why he lied. To her of all people._ _

__She just wanted to know the truth. It was her turn to be angry. When she saw him standing in the doorway, surprisingly sober, she moved. Fists striking out, confusion etched on her features, among other things. Anger, Fear, Pain. All applied to the current spectrum of emotions she felt towards the general situation._ _

__She threw a punch, hard enough to lunge him back out the door and into the yard. Ruby was a surprisingly calm person in most situations, so seeing her this angry had to be strange. “Why?”_ _

__She lunged again, this time her attack blocked. “Why did you lie to me!?” His grip on her wrist wasn’t meant to hurt, merely to stop. She lunged a punch with her other fist, anger fueling her emotions, making them obvious. “Why did you give me up!? Didn’t you want me!?”_ _

__That seemed to catch him off guard. Her foot swept under him as she yanked her hands free, knocking him to the ground. “Why did you lie to me?”_ _

__She sank down. The sheer emotion she felt had to be enough to attract a small army of Grimm. Good thing Mistrals Grimm defense was damn near as good as Atlas. Or else she might have. Her knees hit the grass and she refused to look at him._ _

__“Ruby--- If I didn’t want you I would’ve erased myself from your life completely. I did what I did to protect you.”_ _

__Tears welled up in her eyes, anger giving way to sadness. “What if I didn’t want to be protected?”_ _

__Fate had ripped both of her parents away from her. How fitting? Just like the pendulum swung as time ticked down threatening to erase her from existence, just like it had with Penny, Pyrrha, her Mom. Her fists dug into the grass, because she needed something to wire her to reality._ _

__“You were too young to make that choice. And my semblance----”_ _

__“No.” And the anger was back, “You don’t know that! You don’t know what would have happened. You can’t possibly know that something would’ve happened to me. You can’t have known what would happen. And instead of trying you chose to run. You abandoned me because you were afraid. And now you’ve done more damage than you ever would’ve done if you hadn’t lied.”_ _

__She got up from her spot on the ground, motions fluid, like rising from a strike in battle, and she turned and walked away. “Ruby.” His voice called to her, and there was a part of her that wanted to stop and turn around. “Ruby, stop.”_ _

__There was an edge that made her stop, but she didn’t turn to look at him. Even now, she wasn’t playing this game. He’d lied. He’d hurt her. And the truth was out, and he couldn’t just close this can of worms and pretend it’d never opened. Just like she couldn’t forget it. He’d always been more of a father figure to her, despite Tai’s best efforts, he’d always favored Yang. And she always felt left in the dust trying to catch her breath and catch up._ _

__“You can’t change it, Dad.” She tested out the word, given that from now on it’d apply to their relationship. “You can’t take it back. What’s done is done, you made your bed and now you get to lie in it.”_ _

__She continued walking, not even bothering to look at him. Her feet carrying her back into the house, and straight to the one place where she wouldn’t be alone. Right to her girlfriend and her sister._ _

__\----------------------_ _

__Qrow rubbed his hands over his face from his spot in the yard, where Ruby had left him standing. She was never supposed to know. It was never supposed to come out. But when he’d learned the truth of Lionheart’s betrayal, what else was he supposed to do? Was he supposed to just stand by and let it continue and watch as he lost another one of the people he cared about?_ _

__It wasn’t going to happen. And he should’ve known that Ruby was going to follow him. Leave it to her to have inherited his strong sense of morality. She couldn’t just stand by and watch people get hurt senselessly._ _

__He collected himself heading back towards the Academy. He wouldn’t be returning back to the house until he had everything under control at the school. Students would be returning within the next few days, and there were a lot of preparations to be made. Given that he was the only one that seemed trustworthy enough to handle the school, and it’s relic. He’d take the position as Headmaster, until another candidate was found and deemed worthy._ _

__His first order of business upon arrival was to clean up the mess, left behind by his outburst earlier, then to rid the school of any trace of Salem’s influence. And he made sure to get ever speck. Including her Seer hiding in the school’s vault. And he made sure she was well aware, and that the Grimm saw everything before he dispatched it from the world._ _

__He wanted her to know that he had taken over, and that shit wasn’t going to be nearly as easy as it had been._ _

__Anything to distract himself from the fact that he’d rather be in a bar drinking himself to alcohol poisoning. He even redecorated the office to his specifications. And if the CCT tower at Beacon hadn’t been destroyed, he’d have called to inform Tai of the development, so that he wasn’t shocked when Ruby came home knowing the truth._ _

__\----------------------------_ _

__Blake made her way through the streets of Mistral, towards the safe house that she’d been alerted of. The others that had chosen to join them had splintered off to find their own accommodations. She and Sun had been the only ones offered space at the house. The last two beds, going to them._ _

__Her mother had assured her that this was okay, and that the other’s had already made arrangements. Sun stayed close to her too, which was surprisingly a relaxing concept. She wasn’t alone._ _

__Knowing her luck the team was going to be ready to tear her apart when she knocked on the door and made her way back into their lives. She hoped not. As it was, she couldn’t wait any more. The time had come. She stood there in front of the door, hand raised, took a deep breath, and knocked._ _


	11. Don't Let Me Get Me Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breakfast is awkward. Ruby trains. Yang visits with her baby half sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little short. I was finding it hard to find my musing. I spent six hours trying to write this short little trainwreck before I ran out of time to write, so there will be more tomorrow, now that I actually have a general idea about what I'm going to do.

Breakfast the next morning was tense. Despite everyone’s best efforts to eleviate the growing tension in the air, it seemed pretty much impossible. Especially given the fact that as soon as Qrow sat down, Ruby got up and walked away. Yang, Weiss and the newly added Blake allowed their eyes to trail after their leader, following her until she was out the back door on the training deck. 

Unfortunately it didn’t take a genius to see that something had happened between Ruby and Qrow, and the only people at the table who knew exactly what had happened were no doubt going to be super tight lipped until Ruby was ready talk about it. Which judging by the level of her anger, and the fact that she couldn’t even bring herself to have breakfast at the same table as her Uncle, Nora found a conversation about it highly unlikely. 

No, Ruby’s reaction to Qrow’s mere presence was almost scary, and it was hard to scare her. Everyone knew that Ruby loved her Uncle, so to see her avoiding him was strange. “Does anyone wanna talk about the elephant in the room?”

She broke the silence, all eyes turned to her, much like she was used to whenever she had one of her outbursts. Ozcar spoke next, the air around him shifting. Whelp, looked like Ozpin had taken the reigns. 

“I think it’s best that we avoid discussing such matters. Bad table ettiquette.” 

Nora huffed, honestly she just wanted to know what the hell had gotten Ruby down. Ruby was always so happy, almost like her, positivity was her strong suit so to see her look like the world had been torn apart, Nora wanted to beat whoever did it with a hammer. But she relented, despite her curiosity, in part thanks to Ren giving her a light shake of his head, warning her against persistance. 

She instead went back to her pancakes, and watched as Ozcar rose up from his seat, excusing himself and headed out to join Ruby on the training deck. 

\----------------------------

A brilliant white light illuminated the training deck, as Ruby awakened her silver eyed abilities. She seemed to have a good grasp on the summoning of her abilities, now if he could just get her trained in their use. 

“Teach me something.” The words were ground out of her lips with such harshness, it was hard to believe that he was looking at the same girl that he’d met a little over a year ago. 

‘Something got her upset, is it really a good idea---’ 

Of course, Oscar was attempting to be kind, but such kindness could only be afforded when they had the time available to spare. And as it was, the attack on Haven was coming, and Ruby needed to be ready. 

“Alright, Miss. Rose.” Their voices mingled, intertwining, and he could see her expression soften only the slightest bit. “Tell me, can you feel the current of your aura?”

Her eyes remained open blazing the brightest white, and she offered him a nod, “Yeah.”

“Channel it. Shape it, and control it. See if you can focus the flow into your hand.”

Pure anger fueled her, he could see it. Her focus was intense, like she was looking for something to keep her from putting her attention back on whatever was going on between her and Qrow. He had an idea. Or two, as to what might have happened. He’d stay out of it, until a later date. 

\--------------------------

“Hey guys, do me a favor?” Yang’s voice broke the next silence that had fallen over them, breakfast was over, everyone had parted ways, and she, Weiss and Blake had been volunteered for dish duty. Good thing they finished pretty quick. 

It was Blake her responded, her head tilting to the side, in an adorable manner than mimicked a curious kitten. Yang just wanted to pet her head, and snuggle her. Given the fact that she’d punched Blake straight in the stomach for being a dumbass and running away. Now that she’d gotten angry and felt better, all she wanted to do was be close to her. “Keep an eye on Ruby for me. I have to go have a meeting with my mom.”

One that she’d hoped to avoid given the fact that her mother seemed to be trying to catch up, and she on the other hand, didn’t seem to give a damn. What could she say, eighteen and a half years was an awfully long time to not give a fuck before you actually wanted something to do with your kid. 

She kind of envied Ruby. At least she knew that Uncle Qrow cared about her, even if he’d given up his title as her dad. He’d stayed close, and had even trained her. Unlike Raven who was unheard of, scarce and down right cold. 

Blake offered a quiet nod, silence falling over them for another minute and a half before the dark haired girl spoke up. “If you wanna talk, you know where to find me.” Sitting on the roof, reading a book. Got it. She’d keep that in mind. Yang headed out the front door, footsteps carrying her to the semi-familiar entrance to the Mistrilian Underground. Where she knew she’d find Raven and the rest the clan. 

Including the one person she’d actually formed a bond with, the kid had come to talk to her after the first time she’d talked to Raven, the night she’d all but demanded that her mother give her the help she needed to help Ruby. 

She’d been shocked to say the least, when she found out that the woman who’d abandoned her had another child, only about four years younger than her. Talk about a fast rebound. From what she recalled her dad was still holding on to some of the fragments of the woman. 

“Yang!” Lark rushed forward, throwing herself at her half sister, and Yang let out a laugh, catching her with ease. She was small for her age. A little bitty thing. It was effortless for Yang to support both of them. “You came!”

“I promised I would. I don’t like to disappoint.”Yang sat the girl back down on the ground, offering finger guns at the thugs she’d fought to get into the Bandit camp a few days earlier. The jackass seemed fairly intimidated by her, still. Good. “Where’s Mom?”

“She’s busy. But you’ll hang out with me until she’s ready right?” The way Lark’s face lit up at the idea of spending time with the sister she’d never known about, Yang couldn’t possibly say no to that. Honestly, she wondered how the hell someone so precious could’ve possibly come from her mom. The kid was a true testament of the statement that you aren’t your parents. 

“You got it, we could go hang out in the market. Mom knows how to find us when she’s ready.”

\------------------------------

Qrow had elected to keep his distance. Except for meal times, and even then he hadn’t been taking care of himself the greatest lately anyway. The fight he’d had with Ruby didn’t seem to help that matter at all. Given instead of drinking himself into a stupor, or going off to do something stupid. He’d thrown himself into his work. 

He’d assigned a few members of the numbers Blake and Yang had brought with them to protect the school. Guard the school at all costs. Why didn’t matter. The faunus and his sister’s tribesmen were surprisingly compliant. That was refreshing. Looked like at least something intended to go his way, even if it was the slightest detail. 

Now if he could just figure out how to make things up to Ruby. He’d be golden. But there was no way to make up for what he’d done, was there?

\-------------------------------

Ruby took a deep breath. Fists clenching as if she was preparing to punch someone. She had other reason though. They wouldn’t stop shaking. She and Ozcar had been at this for something along the lines of six hours. And she refused to stop. She wasn’t just going to give up because of a little case of the shakes. After all, time was a precious commodity they were running out of right? She had to master this, she had to become as good as her mom. If not better. There was no room for error. 

Excuses. 

Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. 

She shook out her hand, focusing her aura again, channeling it towards her hand. That time a spark expelled itself and she was almost pleased with herself. If she kept going she’d be able to produce something of substance. 

“I believe that’s enough for today, Miss. Rose.”Ozpin’s voice broke her concentration, which she had to force back, energy pushing back towards her hand. Black dots spotting at her vision. Not enough. She hadn’t gotten it right yet. She didn’t expect it to be good. She just wanted to do it right. Just once. 

“No I can do it.” 

It seemed that he’d taken her word for it, however, by the way he moved he wasn’t pleased by her persistence. Given he moved back into the house, leaving her alone. She shook it off. It didn’t matter. 

She could do this. 

Hands shaking or not. 

She had to do this.


	12. Don't Let Me Get Me Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one came a little easier than yesterdays chapter. It's also going to hurt a little bit more.

The day had ended with her vision dotted in black. She was pretty sure she’d blacked out, once or twice, but she’d done it. She’d figured out the key to getting the weird aura blast right. And she’d managed to get one out, that crashed into a tree and singed it to the ground. Oops. 

So her aim was a bit off. 

For the time being, she’d been moved into Weiss’ room, and Yang was sleeping in her old bed. Simply because someone had to share a room with Qrow, and at the moment Ruby was too angry to do so. And she was pretty sure the entire house had become well aware of it. She’d have to explain things eventually. But at the moment she still didn’t understand it all. 

She laid in her bed now, Weiss sleeping soundly next to her. And she relaxed, attempting to sleep, but not really getting too far beyond a dozed state. Every little sound seemed to wake her right back up. Like her sense were still hyper heightened, as they seemed to be when her blinding silver eyed aura was active. 

She wished she could sleep. But she’d take whatever little bit she could get. Even if it was just a few minutes here and there, it was still better than nothing. Right? Right. 

And morning came all too soon. The sun was rising to the sky and Weiss woke up, she’d pretended to still be sleeping when the girl leaned down and left a soft peck on her forehead before heading out of the room. She hated this. 

She hated being angry. She hated feeling like everything hurt and that her life made even less sense. But here she was. 

Bitter. 

Angry. 

And unwilling to be the one who made up for it. 

Stupid stubbornness. She got it from him. 

She laid in bed for another ten minutes, counting the seconds in her head, before she finally decided to pull herself from her bed, and make her way to kitchen for a cup of coffee. Why did it feel like her skin was buzzing? Like a hoard of lancers were under her skin. She shivered it off, acting as if it was just cold chill. The feeling didn’t go away. It didn’t matter. She’d be okay. She just needed some coffee. 

And her hands. They still shook, even as she raised her coffee cup to her lips. Which didn’t get very far, given the fact that her hand shook so much that the cup slipped from her grasp and hit the floor shattering.

Alright. Screw the coffee. 

She was glad that she and Weiss seemed to be the only ones awake at the moment. Even if her fumble seemed to upset her girlfriend. 

“Ruby are you okay?” Her words didn’t come as a shock to the rhodochrosite haired young woman. She knew it was going to come up in conversation eventually. 

“Yeah, absolutely. I just need to blow off some steam. Yang said she found a mission, just a minor Grimm invasion. She wants me to go with her to get rid of some of my anger. I told her I’d go.” Ruby shrugged, as if it wasn’t an issue. As if she wasn’t shaking. As if she hadn’t just dropped a full mug of perfectly good coffee on the floor. “I’ll be okay as soon as I get rid of some of this anger. I just--- I don’t know how to deal with this?”

“It’ll be okay. It’ll just take a little while. And you know that we’re all here for you. No matter what happens.” Weiss’ words should have made her feel better. But they didn’t. Even as slender fingers, curved over her own gently forcing her hands to still if only for a minute. It still felt like the world was falling down on her head. 

“I know, thanks, Weiss.” She leaned forward allowing her head to come to rest on her girlfriend’s shoulder. Finding solace in the feeling of her hands being stilled in her grasp. “We should probably clean this up, before the other’s wake up. I don’t want them to worry.” 

The two of them got to work cleaning up the coffee and the glass, and for a few minutes, Ruby’s expression wasn’t resting in the scowl that had made itself at home on her features and seemed entirely out of place. Still there was a tiny voice in the back of her head that kept telling her that she should probably go lay back down and go back to sleep. But instead, she went for round two with the coffee, and actually managed to salvage the second cup. 

\---------------------------

The morning passed Ruby consumed a few more cups of coffee. And the other’s woke up, making breakfast for themselves, as the morning went on and they one by one managed to drag themselves into the world of wakefulness. She was shocked to find that Oscar was the last one awake. Coming out of his room as she and Yang were getting ready to leave. 

She and Yang said their see ya laters, and out they went into the world. Women on a mission. It was several minutes before Ruby broke the oddly comfortable silence between the two of them. “So where exactly is this mission going to take us?”

“Not too far out of the kingdom. It’s a little village just a little bit too the north of here.” Ruby caught her sister’s gaze heading down to her hands, which had returned to their state of constant vibration. “Are you sure you’re okay, Ruby?”

No. She wasn’t. But it was too late to turn back now. She could handle this. It wasn’t like it was going to be a long mission. It wasn’t like it was anything super hard. Just a couple of Beowolves from what Yang said earlier. Easy as cake. She wasn’t worried. 

She should have been. 

She knew that as they arrived and the fight started. Shaking hands made it harder to take any kind of aim, and it made her attacks sloppy. And each time that she used her semblance to get the leg up, black dots splattered her vision, growing in number each time. “RUBY!”

She barely heard Yang’s cry of her name, her body felt ridiculously heavy, and she felt herself falling, no landing strategy. Just falling. She barely felt her body make contact with the ground, as the number of Grimm seemed to grow. So much for a few Beowolves right? 

\----------------------------

Yang’s panic must’ve attracted more Grimm to the scene. But Ruby, she wasn’t okay. She’d hit the ground really hard, and the way she laid there. So limp, it was terrifying. “Ruby! Come on, wake up!” 

Lilac hues blazed red, and she knew she had to figure out how to put an end to this, before it got worse. Before she ran out of time, Gauntlets revved and ready, she took out Grimm after Grimm, keeping them away from her unconscious little sister. But she was just one person, and there were so many of them. 

And then someone else entered the fray. Confusion laced her features. Who the hell was this person? Cloaked in a billowing cloud of black, dressed like something out of an assassin novel. And they moved with expert precision, whoever this was, they were no push over that was for damn sure. “Keep fighting until you have an opening. Then run. I’ll hold them off.”

That voice… It seemed familiar. Like she’d heard it somewhere before. She shook her head, more shots aimed at the Grimm, as she moved to pick up Ruby as an opening came available. She could have sworn she saw red-black hair poking out from under the hood of her cloak. No.

No way. 

That wasn’t possible.

She was going to keep that to herself, because that wasn’t humanly possible. Summer Rose was dead, and this--- had to be some well played illusion, or a look alike. “Keep her safe Yang.” The words were a call to a retreating back, and she had to resist the urge to cry. Both because she’d led her sister into a dangerous situation, and because out of all the times for world’s to be flipped on their axis, of course now had to be the time. 

\---------------------------

Summer had arrived on the scene to find several things. She no longer heard the second voice, or a second attacker, but she had heard a loud thud to the ground. And Yang, stood strong and powerful, she could feel that much in the air. Her adopted daughter a force to be reckoned with as she stood protectively over her sister, against an onslaught of Grimm. 

No doubt a half assed plan made by Salem, a mission meant to help dwindle the numbers of the growing resistance. Summer had leapt into the battle without a second thought. Not today. Not ever, if she had any sort of say in it. 

She slaughtered her way through the Grimm, fifteen years of expertly practiced maneuvers, coming into play. Her sense honed specifically to be battle ready, despite the lack of one that was often deemed important. As it appeared, she didn’t need her eyes to ‘see’ the attacks as they came from the Grimm. And she moved with ease, to create an opening for her daughters to escape. 

“Keep her safe, Yang!” Her shout went unanswered, but she knew that said wishes would be followed. If there was anything she could count on it was Yang’s desire to protect Ruby. She’d always been so fiercely protective. Even when she was so much smaller. Nothing was going to touch Ruby in her vulnerable state. 

With a steeled edge, Summer eradicated the rest of the problem. Before heading into the small village of Yori. So small it didn’t even appear on maps. Luckily they had an Inn. She wasn’t due to head to Mistral for two days, and she had a lot to prepare for. And a final mission for Salem, that the woman would hunt her for, if she didn’t finish it. Especially while she was still meant to be on her radar. 

She’d saved two lives, at the cost of another. How fitting. She wondered if her family would even welcome her return if they knew what she’d done over the years. The people she’d killed, or tortured simply for the sake of her own survival so that one day she could come home. She walked into the Inn, requested a room, and asked for the Inn Keeper to lead her. 

She almost felt bad for the man who’d died. Only for his family to fall too. He’d given everything, even his own freedom for their protection. Wiped himself off the face of their planet, renounced them. Simply because it was the only way to keep them safe. And people had believed he was trying to save his own skin. 

No, he’d had so much more riding on his betrayal. She couldn’t find it in herself to hate him, despite the part he’d played in her capture and her torture. What use was it hating a dead man anyway?

The girl, she knew was about Ruby and Yang’s age. Somewhere in that range. “Do you mind if I ask your name?” Her voice held a cordial edge and she hated the fact that she knew what she was going to have to do. 

“Farron Starling.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, hon.” No it wasn’t. She lied. Through her teeth, because she was still being watched, being focused on. And if she fucked this up. She’d lose all hope of freedom. “I’m here on official business, as sad as it is to say. I’m going to have to ask you sit down.” 

Once they were in the room, she waited until the woman was seated before she spoke again. “Your father died two days ago---- Professor Leonardo Lionheart is dead.” 

She heard a soft sob, like her hopes had been shattered, and she hated herself. She honestly would’ve have rather driven the blade of Rose Red through her own chest instead of drawing the katana like blade, to run it through the woman’s chest. 

And she left, like a ghost. Like she’d never been there in the first place. No name on file. Nothing. Just a dead body left behind. 

The things she did for survival. Even as the end of her captivity grew near. She retreated down into the tavern, her attention turning to the brutish male she’d grown familiar with. “Hazel, inform her grace that it is done. And then make yourself scarce. I’m going off the radar and beginning my mission. It will take me time to weaken their defenses. Our Queen will know of my progress when we are prepared for battle.” 

Lies that she didn’t mind telling. These lies. These lies meant going home. Seeing her family. Her lies spoken now, were the final step to her freedom. She turned to walk away, and a strong hand caught her wrist stopping her. “We both know that you’re not going to go through with it. But I will tell the Queen otherwise. Don’t make me regret it.”

A small smile spread across her features. “You deserve so much better. Thank you, my friend.”

\-------------------------

“Someone get help! Go get Uncle Qrow.” Yang laid Ruby down in the bed, fingers fidgeting searching for a pulse. There was an edge of panic that rushed through the house as the remaining members of Team JNPR went in search of medic, and Oscar went to find Qrow, no doubt in his office at Haven, trying to drown himself in his work. 

“What happened!?” That voice belonged to Weiss, her own worry making itself prominent in the way the words were spoken as she rushed to her sister’s bedside. 

“I don’t know, we were fighting and then she just dropped.” 

Yang relaxed a little as cough escaped Ruby’s lips. Only for her worry to pick up again, when Weiss spoke, after leaning down to test for breath. 

“Yang---- She’s not breathing.”


	13. Kicking and Screaming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow and Ruby fight out their feelings. Raven makes an appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Here it is. This thing is beautiful. And we're coming up on some milestones in the plot that you guys are going to be dying to see. 
> 
> Now. I have a request. I'm going to be doing a series of one shots that will correspond with events in the story. If you have a specific scene you want elaborated more on. Drop it in a review, and I'll see about getting it written for ya. At the moment I have plans for Yang and Lark's trip to the market, A Summer/Qrow thing, and Ruby and Weiss' first date.

Crimson eyes flickered upwards towards the door, the sound of thundering footsteps rushing down the hall. Absolutely no grace in the way whoever moved. Whatever was going on, it was either important or this person was an idiot. The doors flew open and Qrow’s eyes met those of Oscar, who was himself in this case, and not Ozpin. 

Before he could even get out half of a hello, Oscar’s lips were moving, and his world seemed to stop. “You need to come back to the house. It’s Ruby. There-----”

Qrow hadn’t needed to hear anymore, as soon as Ruby’s name filled the air between them with the urgency in his voice, he was moving. His desk abandoned, paperwork scattered. And he didn’t give two shits. Something had happened to his daughter, and despite his minds protests that his semblance might only make things worse, he owed it to her after everything to be there. 

As soon as he reached the sunny outdoors, it was a matter of swift drop, and a shift in body mass and a crow had taken the place of a man. Soaring through the sky he covered more ground, eyes spotting Jaune, Nora, and Ren as they made their way back to the house with one of Mistrals medics. He’d beat them there. By at least ten minutes. 

\-------------------------

Thanks to some quick thinking on Weiss’ part, they’d managed to kick start Ruby’s breathing again. Thank the Gods for that. Yang looked over her baby sister, the regret for having decided to bring her along on that mission hanging heavy in the air. She wondered if this still would’ve happened if she hadn’t. 

They’d find out, as soon as the medics arrived. 

But she doubted that the guilt would subside even after she got answers. She was supposed to keep Ruby safe. That’d always been her job, as a big sister it was what you tended to do. And no amount of truths revealed was going to change the fact that Yang was Ruby’s big sister. 

Weiss reached over and opened the window, to let in the panicked bird outside. Yang wasn’t the slightest bit surprised when said bird turned into her Uncle. 

She knew how this had to look to her Uncle, Yang who barely ever expressed negative emotion with anything other than extreme fits of rage. Had tear stained cheeks, and seemed to be on the verge of a breakdown. Would anyone blame her? 

“What happened?” Qrow, while worried, seemed to have a better grip on his emotions. Almost like he’d seen something like this before. With Mom maybe? “I need specifics.”

Weiss who also seemed more in control, spoke instead. “She was shakey. Really shakey. She dropped a coffee cup this morning, trying to drink it.”

“I took her out, Uncle Qrow. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have.”

“How did this happen?”He rephrased his question, and she knew it was directed at her. 

“We were fighting some Grimm. It was supposed to be a small issue that Yori’s huntsman couldn’t handle. Ruby couldn’t seem to hold a good grip on Crescent Rose, so she kept using her semblance to get the leg up so that she didn’t have to worry about having perfect strikes. It worked for a minute, and then---- she just dropped. One second she was sort of okay, and the next she was falling.” 

“Yang, Weiss. You two go get something to eat, take a minute to calm down. I’ll stay here. ----Don’t give me that look Yang. Go.”

She turned and left the room, Weiss guiding her out.

\----------------------------------

“Of all the things in the world you could’ve done to get back at me, Petal, why did you have to choose the one that could’ve killed you?” His voice was a low whisper, as if she could hear him anyway. There was no sense in panicking over this. She’d wake up, as it seemed the worst was over, Yang and Weiss had done good getting her through it. 

He thought back on the time that the same thing had happened to Summer. She’d been so damn determined to give Ozpin something to show for his efforts, and she’d damn near driven herself into the ground trying. Extended uses of Aura tended to have this effect. It was why it was practically frowned upon to take part in activities that would require constant use over the course of days. 

And Ruby, while she was strong, was small. And turned out her body could only take so much. 

\-----------------------------------

How long had he been sitting there? 

Ruby’s eyes passed over her father, asleep in the chair next to her bed. She was almost certain he’d had to have been there for a while. The way he was sleeping it looked like he’d become oddly comfortable with his position. She felt like she’d been hit by a freight train though. Her head was spinning, and thumping like some of Yang’s dubstep music from the clubs she went to. 

She let out a groan, followed by a drawn out, whiny, “Owwwwwwww.”

If she thought the migraine she’d get from activating her silver eyed powers was a pain in the ass, this, was like fifty times worse. “Can somebody shut down the club in my brain? Please. The thumping is too much.”

Her words seemed to rouse her father from his sleep. Silver eyes watched as crimson blinked open, as if blinking away the edges of sleep. He exhaled a sigh of relief as his eyes passed over her. To think that she was still angry at him. It almost hurt, especially with the level of relieved concern that rested on his normally chill features. 

“Don’t look so relieved, Dad.” There it was again, that word. That word that she never thought would pertain to this particular person in her life, but had the entire time anyway. If she thought about it, she could find all the times where his actions had been more Dad like than Uncle like. From the way he interacted with her, to the way he trained her. It was all there. She just hadn’t wanted to see it. “I’m still angry at you.”

His signature half smirk made an appearance as what could be classified as a huffed out half laugh, escaped her lips. Both pretty much trademarks of Qrow Branwen. “Don’t blame you.”

“How long was I out?” Turned out, the longer she was awake, the quieter the pounding in her head got. That was nice. 

“Three days.”

“Damn.” She paused for a moment, “I wanna fight.”

Beautiful transition, Ruby. As much as you’ve been thinking about it, you could have been more tactful in your execution. 

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I wanna fight. More specifically I wanna fight you. One on one, sparring match. Ozpin can officiate, everyone gets to watch. And I am totally going to hand you your ass, old man.” She wanted an excuse to have an opportunity to punch him, in a control environment because she felt that was the only thing that would make her feel better. Who could blame her though? He’d lied. For seventeen years of her life he’d lied to her, she had a right to be a little ragey. 

His expression was one of acceptance. “Anything else, Petal?”

She made a confused face at the nickname. Not that it bothered her. Honestly it was better than Pipsqueak. “Hmm, I like that one better than Pipsqueak.” She mused, before answer him, “And yeah, there’s more, but I’m not done being angry yet. So I’m just gonna shut up.”

\----------------------------

It was a few hours later, after much fretting from Yang, Weiss, and Blake. After many assurances that she was okay, and the three of them doing everything in their power to make sure she wasn’t lying. It was time. 

She stood opposite her Uncle, Crescent Rose discarded in the hands of Weiss. Ozpin had decided that since she had insisted on this fight happening, he might as well use it as an opportunity to continue her hand to hand combat training. So neither of them would be using their weapons. 

Which evened out the playing field a little bit. 

“Don’t go easy on me, Dad.” 

Those that hadn’t gotten the memo, mainly Nora, Ren and Jaune, seemed to look at each other in shock. “I called it!” Nora exclaimed loudly and Ruby laughed. Her hands raised, preparing for the fight. Her stance primarily on the defense. As it was, she wasn’t an idiot. Due to her smaller size he had the leg up on her there. But if she played defense and only struck when he created an opening. She’d have this fight in the bag in no time. 

And it began.

She started off, by dodging the first punch thrown, using her arm to catch the kick her father had attempted to deliver. No doubt she’d get some sort of praise once it was all over. Given this wasn’t just for personal benefit but also for training purposes. She knocked him back, fist slamming down, connecting with his jaw. God that was satisfying. 

She hit the ground unexpectedly, having neglected to account for the fact that he had legs that she was standing perilously close to. And with a quick movement she’d been brought down to his level. 

That was irritating. Eyes narrowed, and she followed up by moving back a few feet, only to push herself up from the ground, and prepare herself. “That the best you got?”

“Nope. Just getting started, Pipsqueak.” He brought himself to an upright position, and she found herself having to lunge out of the way to avoid being hit again. A quick roll, and she was back on her feet like she hadn’t just had to evade being punched. His expression read that he’d been impressed by her narrow escape. 

Her move. The sheer speed of her motion as her body shifted to a mess of red rose petals, she took him down, a cheap shot. But in the real world, battles weren’t fair either. “Gotcha.” She let her fists move, with almost as much speed. No doubt she was shocked when he’d managed to maneuver himself out of the path of one of her punches, making her fist connect with the concrete beside his head instead. That was unfortunate. 

In the moment that she was left attempting to regain feeling in her hand, she felt his fist connect, and she was knocked off him and left rubbing her jaw. Damnit. That hurt. Like everything else that had transpired in the past few days. Especially avoiding him. Being angry with him. All of it hurt. 

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she still brought herself back to her feet, aura flickering. She thought she was done crying about it. But she wasn’t. No. Instead she was ready to cry more. And that was the frustrating part about it. She didn’t want to cry anymore. “Don’t say a word.” The words were grated out of her lips, she could see the worry on his features. She wasn’t going to give up. She moved with a fierce determination. 

A right hook to his face was followed up quickly by an elbow as she pulled back. Her fist coming back in a sharp uppercut. Each motion so swift that there was barely time assess where one move began and ended. She waited for him to stand up before she looked to Ozcar. “I forfeit.” All she wanted now was a damn hug. 

So with silver eyes clouded with tears she made her way over to her father, and wrapped her arms around him. Ozcar ushered the other’s into the house to give them a moment to themselves, and she heaved a sob as strong arms wrapped around her holding her close. She needed that. She needed this. 

It took a few minutes for her to stop crying, but when she did she let out a laugh. “I feel better now.”

“You did good, kid. I was almost afraid there for a second.”

“I have a question.”

“Ask away.”

“If you hadn’t been afraid I’d get hurt---”

His grip tightened, almost protectively. It was not an unwanted gesture. “Ruby, if I didn’t think that it was the best thing I could’ve possibly done for you. I would never have even considered it.” 

“I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, Petal.”

Their moment was cut short. Qrow breaking away from Ruby as a red portal opened on the patio. Ruby turned to look at the woman. Raven Branwen, her Aunt. Yang’s birth mom. The woman was intimidating. But then again, she’d dealt with worse. 

“We need to talk, Qrow. Now.”


	14. Words Can't Describe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow comes to a depressing revelation involving the last sixteen years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S FINALLY HERE GUYS. IT'S FINALLY HAPPENED. FOURTEEN CHAPTERS LATER, AND ALMOST ALL THE PARTS OF THE WHOLE ARE PRESENT! xD Now we're just waiting on Winter and Ironwood to figure out the fuck they're doing. I hope you guys liked this, it's a very Qrow and Summer centric chapter. And there's a lot of moments mentioned that I'm dying to write and tell ya'll all about. (Also I'm freaking excited to get to explore Summer's PTSD from her sixteen years of suffering)
> 
> Be warned, I may not update tomorrow or Friday. I gotta move my best friend in, and well. Moving takes time and effort and I only have two days to do it before I'm back to work. BUT I WILL DEFINITELY UPDATE IF AT ALL POSSIBLE DURING THE CHAOS. I PROMISE. <3 As always you guys are the best. And thank you so much for reading and reviewing and giving me all the motivation in the world to continue producing content that makes you all happy.

Qrow sent Ruby into the house, leaving him standing with Raven on the back patio of the house. His attention solely on his twin. If she’d made an effort to make an appearance here, something must really be wrong. Everyone with a brain knew that the two of them were hardly ever on good terms, and Raven never paid him a visit without good reason. 

“What’s this about? I was in the middle of a moment with my kid.” Raven gave him an exasperated sigh, face remaining blank. Ever the stoic. Heh. Typical Raven. 

“I’ve turned up a rather surprising development.” Raven’s expression shifted ever so slightly, holy shit, his sister did have emotions. “I thought you’d like to see what I’ve found.”

It was only a moment before Raven produced a photograph, no doubt taken by one of the Tribesmen. Or perhaps one of her informants, either way, he wasn’t worried about who had taken the picture, but more so who the image was of. 

He’d recognize that frame anywhere. 

“This is fake.” He dismissed it. Someone wanted him upset. Someone wanted him to weaken himself in belief that by some sick miracle she’d lived through the supposed final battle. 

“That’s what I said when he showed it to me. And then I saw her myself.” Raven produced her scroll, her pulling up a recording. Honestly he was shocked she still had the damn thing. Seemed like an unnecessary piece of technology for her position. Old habits die hard, he supposed. 

On the screen he watched the effortless motion of the cloaked woman as she fought a few of Raven’s thugs. “What?” His words were last with confusion. How the hell?

“Oh it gets better. She still has all her nerve.”Raven pointed his attention back to scroll with a pointed look. As if on a cue, her voice emanated from the device. 

“Be lucky I still care about you, Raven. I could just as easily kick your ass for what you did to us.” The next shot which the video ended on, was a shot of the black clad woman turning on her heel and walked away, the motion giving a shot of her face, while blurred, he could still make out the contours of her face and a few wisps of red and black framing it. 

“You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

“You know that’s not true, Qrow. As much as you wish it was, if I wanted you dead I’d have killed you already.”

\-----------------------------

Summer’s stay in Mistral had been three days long thus far, and still she’d seen no sign of the one person she wanted to see. Of course, she couldn’t actually see anything, but whatever. There was still no signs of Qrow Branwen anywhere. And she was growing frustrated. 

However, she had seen Raven. And if Raven knew, even with all the issues between herself and her twin, Qrow would know not long after. She had no doubts that he knew already. Absolutely none. The streets of Mistral were quiet, it’s markets closed, all of the activity buzzing in the underground now. It made the streets so much easier to roam. It also made her so much more noticable. 

The sound of footsteps followed by the sound of slightly slurred speech, and she turned her attention towards the sound of the voice. Qrow. And he was drunk. Oh boy. “If my crazy sister expects me to believe she’s alive, she’s crazy.” The redundancy of the statement. Beautiful Qrow. 

“She’s not crazy.”Summer let the words fall from her lips and she moved closer, “I am alive.”

“Great, and now I’m crazy.” There was an almost cynical laugh from his lips and Summer wasn’t sure how to feel about it. He didn’t believe she was real. Sixteen years had been too damn long, and if there had been another option. She’d have gone with that. But earning Salem’s trust was the only true way for her to be free. Play the game, until the hand held better cards. 

And she had. 

“No your not.” She wished she could see him. Of all the things in the world that she’d ever wished for. She wished that she could open her eyes and look at her husband and her children, and the world. But she couldn’t. “No one’s crazy.”

“Bullshit----Your dead, and I’m drunk. This is all just some elaborate scheme my brain has come up with to inspire hope, or some sappy shit like that.” 

She extended a hand, until it found a grip on his shoulder. “You can’t feel a ghost, Qrow. I’m real.” And she fell right back into a routine. “And you are very drunk, and we should probably get you some coffee, or water. And get you in a bed. I do not feel like dealing with your hungover ass when I try to explain everything to you in the morning.”

\---------------------------

It was even as bossy as she was. What the hell kinda hallucination was this? One he decided to lean on like a damn crutch, and lead to his home in a drunken stupor. Not exactly the smartest bulb in the box, soon enough the two of them were back at the house, and he was downing his third glass of water. 

And his wife was pushing him into bed, and for the first time in years, he actually had a good dream. A kind dream that wasn’t destroyed by the sounds of her screaming, or the feelings that came with having watched her die. It was nice. Relaxing even.

\------------------------

After Summer had ensured that her husband was safely in his bed. She went from room to room, checking on the houses other inhabitants. Careful steps, using the wall to guide her brought her to the next room. From the sounds of soft breathing, she was almost certain this was Yang and Ruby’s room. 

It smelled like cinnamon, a scent that had always clung to Yang like it had when they were baking snickerdoodles. And the fruity smell of Ruby, who had always smelled like a strange mix of strawberries and roses, much like herself. Standing in that door way her girls sleeping she felt tears prickle and spill down her face, on partially caught by the cloth she wore over empty eyes. 

She’d missed so much. 

She’d missed everything. 

“I imagine this all must be very shocking for you.”A chill ran up her spine at the echo in the room. Ozpin edged in with someone else. “It’s good to see you, Summer. Though, I am surprised to say the least that you are not in fact, dead.”

She reached up, her hands wiping away her tears as she turned to face the voice. “I can’t see you, Ozpin.” The sound of her tears was tangible in her voice. 

“You wouldn’t believe it if you could.”That was all Ozpin though. But still, she could feel him approach, by the feeling of his presence he wasn’t nearly as towering as he had been once. And his smell wasn’t of black coffee and mint, it was that of a summer day. A reassuring hand came to rest on her arm. “I trust that I can still trust you?”

“That’s never changed. I played the part handed to me for sixteen years, until I could get away and come home. Salem doesn’t know. She believes what she was told. I gave her no reasons to believe otherwise.” 

“Good. We will need that to gain the upperhand.” 

There was silence between them for a moment, and Summer was trying to figure out exactly how in the hell she was going to manage. It was good to know that Ozpin was unfazed by her return. Given the state she’d found Qrow in. She’d half expected a variation of the same from her old mentor. 

“He doesn’t believe I’m real. How am I supposed to explain this when he gets up in the morning? Things aren’t just going to fall back into place. Too much has happened. Too much has changed.” She was unsure of anything at this point, other than the fact that she was unsure of what to do now that she’d made it this far. 

“He isn’t going to hate you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“How do you know that?” 

“I just do. Loves like yours don’t die, Summer Rose. They grow, through all the trials and hardships, they keep growing. And as soon as he realizes that you’re here, and you’re not some figment of his drunkeness. Things will fall into place, even if it isn’t the same place they were in before.”

“Thanks. I’m going to go crash on the couch now, I think it’s been about two days since I’ve had sleep.”

\--------------------------

Morning came and Summer woke up to the feeling of eyes on her. It was easy for her to tell when someone was watching her. She’d been awakened by the feeling thousands of times before. Even more so familiar was the feeling of a blade’s tip resting at her throat. What a wonderful way to wake up on your first morning home. Right?

“You won’t do it.”Her words are surprisingly calm, “You couldn’t make yourself even if you wanted to.”

A hand came up, to push the blade away from her throat. She didn’t blame him. “Who the hell are you?”

“Exactly who you think I am.”

\---------------------------

It looked like her. It sounded like her. It couldn’t be her. He wanted her to look at him, he could always tell when she was lying by the way her eyes shifted to look at anything but him. He always knew when she was plotting something by the way she’d side eye her victim with the tiniest smirk. Her eyes were the window to her soul. Always had been. Sometimes quite literally.

“Look at me!” His words came out harsher, more desperate than intended. 

“Qrow----”  
\------------------------

There were so many other ways for her to prove that she was really there. Why had he chosen this one in particular? In atypical fashion, she stumbled over a protest, before she settled on the truth. She couldn’t see his face now, she couldn’t lie to him. Not here. Not now, not after so long. “She thought she could take my power.”

The sound of Ozpin’s voice urging Ruby and Yang to stay in their room was startlingly clear in the midst of her inner turmoil, as she reached up, her hands coming up behind her head to remove the strip of fabric that hid the lack of eyes. Her hands hovered, slowly working the knot undone. She was taking her time, fear of his reaction keeping her talking, trying to explain. 

“You know the stories. Powers bound to silver eyes, you take the eyes, you take the power.” 

She was almost shocked at the gentility of his touch, especially given the particularly rude awakening that she’d suffered from not even five minutes ago. Time seemed to pass far too slow as his hand took hold of the blindfold and tugged it free. She imagined that he still held it. However her eyes still remained closed. “Yeah I know the stories. Summer, open your eyes.”

He’d accepted it. And now she was even more afraid. 

\-------------------------

This had to be some kind of miracle. He was far from drunk, so he knew it couldn’t be a hallucination, and Oz saw her too. She’d lived. And he’d stopped looking. He’d suffered under the assumption she’d died, while she suffered in captivity for sixteen years. His fist closed tightly around the strip of heavy fabric that had been obscuring her eyes. Once so beautiful and full of life. 

The way she talked---- He had to see it for himself. As much as he knew he’d hate it, and hate himself for letting it happen. 

His hand came up to rest on her cheek, a gesture that seemed long lost in times of lost hope. The action meant to comfort, and ease. He used to do it whenever she’d have panic attacks when they were younger. When everything got too overwhelming and someone had to pull her back to the fact that despite her life being next level crazy she was still loved by someone, it was such gestures as that that always seemed to work. 

He almost brought himself to smile when she brought her hand up to touch his hand, and allowed her eyelids to lift, revealing exactly as he had feared. Beautiful gleaming silver eyes, were nowhere to be found, and an emptiness was left in their place. 

And he felt like the weight of the world had been dropped on his shoulders, on his heart, which leapt into his throat and continued to pound. To himself, his world had started spinning again, only to be stopped abruptly due to her suffering. And to on lookers, it was the first time any of them would ever see Qrow Branwen cry. If there had been any on lookers, Ozpin had made sure that the kids all stayed in their rooms while he sorted it all out, so it was just the two of them. 

His arms wrapped around his wife, sixteen years apart, and she still fit in his arms like a piece of a puzzle. His face burrowed into her neck as it did whenever she’d been his calming force. And just like a scene from their youth, he began muttering the same phrase over and over into the skin of her neck. “I’m sorry.”


	15. I Am Damaged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby discovers why she'd been locked in her room, Summer has feelings, Yang meets up with Lark, and Weiss and Blake share a family bonding moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let you guys know. I feel like this chapter is a little off from my usual work. But I hope that it'll come back in the next chapter. I honestly just had a hard time coming up with events to make this make sense. xD. And my hotspot on my phone died and I was without interwebs for a day cause our home wifi isn't the greatest. 
> 
> Anywho. 
> 
> It's here. And there is so much more cuteness to come.

Ruby paced the floor of the room that she’d been sharing with Yang for the past few days. She could almost swear that if she kept moving she was going to wear holes in the flooring. But that didn’t stop her. She was nervous, anxious. Someone was here. Someone that they didn’t want them getting involved with. It was almost like they were hiding them. 

“Ugh! I can’t just sit here!” Ruby’s voice was full of frustration and an edge of panic as she kept moving, her motions getting faster. 

“Trust me, if they’re trying to keep us in here, you probably don’t want to be out there. Uncle Qrow seemed pretty pissed off about something when he came in earlier.”

“I don’t care if my dad’s pissed off or not. I wanna help.”

Ruby moved over towards the door, past Yang who reached out took a grip of her arm. The cool metal of her robotic hand sent a shiver down her spine. “Ruby, no.”

Ruby, yes. 

Ruby forced her way free of Yang’s grip, and over towards the door. Which she managed to pull open.

Check.

Next obstacle, Ozpin. She smirked, with her speed it’d be easy enough to worm her way past the old man, even if he was a bit younger and sprier now. One second she was there in the doorway, and Ozcar was forming a protest. The next she was standing on the landing in the stairwell that led up to the bedrooms. 

Check mate. 

And oh, she should’ve listened. Gods forbid she should have fucking listened. Story of her life, as of lately huh? Silver eyes widened, in shock. There not even 100 ft away from her, stood an older but eerily similiar replica of herself. 

Her mother. 

“Dad, what the hell is going on? Mom?” She had to be seeing things. She blinked as if she could clear the cloud away, and get rid of some kind of illusion. Nope. Definitely not. Still there. “Mom.”

Not dead. 

Her mother wasn’t dead. 

Had they known? Who all had known? And why did it look like Qrow had been crying? She’d never seen the man cry a day in his life, and that was saying something given how many opportunities he’d had to cry. 

This was real. That was her mom. Her mom was alive. 

“Mom!”

She rushed down the stairs and through the living room, vaulting herself over the couch. “Is this real? Please tell me I’m not dreaming.” She pinched herself, “Nope! Not dreaming. Holy crap.” 

Still she was curious exactly how long everyone had known. Or at least everyone who knew. Yang, Ozpin, and her Dad (damn that was still going to take a lot of getting used to) all seemed to know something. But clearly they hadn’t accounted for her reactions to things. Her butt hit the couch, and she let out a laugh. 

“Ruby---”Qrow’s voice was more of a sigh. You know the one, the sigh that just screams fucking done with your shit. Yeah. That was the one. “You know what, never mind. C’mere, Pipsqueak.” Arms extended creating an opening between the two. And it was like a picture from a life that had been lost. Everything at rights in their world. If only for five minutes. A family reunited. 

\-----------------------------

Weiss had heard Ruby’s exclamation from the room that she shared with Blake. Probably because her room was right above them, and despite their best efforts the walls were still paper thin. 

Blake’s hand came to rest on her shoulder, there was a moment of surprise from Weiss. The Winter Maiden shifted her head to look at her teammate. Yang’s partner. Excuse her Yang’s girlfriend, but also Sun’s. The three of them had some sort of weird thing going on. Weiss wasn’t gonna judge, if it made them happy, whatever. Right?

“I know your family isn’t the greatest. But blood ties don’t necessarily decide your family either.” Blake’s voice was calm, almost soothing. Somewhat like one might imagine a cat would sound if it could speak english as it purred. 

“You guys are my family. Winter is my family. Qrow adopted me when I started dating Ruby so I guess he’s family too?” Weiss shrugged. Honestly though, she missed the aspect, the idea of something that had never existed for her family. The idea that your parents could love you for some reason other than personal gain. 

“Just remember what it was like to reunite with all of us.” 

“The happiest moment of the last year.” Weiss nodded, her expression shifting from the scowl that she’d hadn’t even realized had been painted on her features. “I missed you guys so much that I cried.”

“Oh my God, she has feelings.” It was the smallest of jokes, which earned and angry look from the white haired maiden. A smirk came to Blake’s lips and she leaned over the rest her head on her roommates shoulder. 

“And the cat actually has jokes. It’s a miracle.”Blake let out a laugh and Weiss joined in a few seconds following. The two of them fell back into a fit of laughs on the bed, and Weiss had to admit that she was happy that the conversation had a better end than she’d been expecting. “Thanks, Blake.”

“No problem.”

\-------------------------------

Winter paced the floor of the airship, it’d taken far too long for them to get approval for this mission. But finally, after many attempts and much effort it happened. Their excuse, danger was moving in on Haven academy and the two of them intended to aid with no hope of getting back into Atlas until the threat passed. 

Winter had insisted that he stay behind, but there was James, standing a few feet away from where she paced, frustration and the desire for freedom wearing her down. She hated being cooped up, and as it was, in order to get out of Atlas, they’d been told they had to take a completely off path route, and she just wanted off this Godsdamned ship. She caught James’ eyes on her before she head the sound of his voice. 

“Winter.”

“Sir?”

“How can I help calm you down, your pacing is making me anxious.”

\--------------------------------

Yang waited several minutes before she headed down the stairs, her feet carrying her into the scene of Ruby, Summer, and Qrow all together, the picture of happy family. Yang was surprised when Summer’s attention perked at her entry to the room. There was a moment and a deep breath from the woman, before she spoke. “Yang.” A pause, that seemed to set her nerves on fire. “Come here, my little dragonfly.”

A smile spread far across Yang’s features, and she moved in, towards the woman. A miracle had brought her home. That was what Yang was going to chalk it up to. After all this time, the only mother who had actually wanted anything to do with her, was home. And she was just as happy as Ruby in that moment. Her family seemed to be all together, minus Raven and her dad of course. 

“Mom.” The word caught in her throat, the implication almost too much to bear. She allowed her arms to wrap around her, and she laughed. Reaching up a hand to wipe away her tears. “I’m so glad your home.”

A few hours passed, in the process she called playing catch up, when Yang remembered that she’d promised her attention to someone else today. And like she’d said before, she wasn’t one to disappoint, even if it was more disappointing to herself that she had to leave when things were just coming together. 

“I have to go visit with my mom. Ya know the one who decided I wasn’t worth Yangin’ around for?” Had she really made that bad joke at a time like this. Yup. Well shit. “I’m outtie. I’ll be back later.”

\-------------------------

Lark was honestly starting to get discouraged as she wandered around the market. Yang had promised to meet up with her about an hour ago, and part of her was afraid that her big sister had elected to do something better, and more entertaining. She wouldn’t blame her. 

As it was, Lark was kinda boring. After all, she had been a bit of a sheltered kid before Yang had walked into her life and demanded things from her mother. She was good in battle, but other than that, she wasn’t sure what other talents she had. 

Then again, all she’d ever had to have was talent in fighting. That was all that was important when you were a part of a bandit tribe. Your ability to fight was your entire life, including your survival. For her to realize that there was more to life than that, well, it was a little weird. And she definitely wasn’t sure how to handle it. 

She found herself shocked though, as Yang slid (quite literally) to a stop in front of her, flicking off her shades in a single motion. “Sorry I’m late, kiddo. Some stuff came up at the house.” 

The small brown haired girl exhaled a sigh, the feathers of her wings laying down from their fluffed up, frazzled, anxious state. 

“So what are we gonna do today?”

“I was actually thinking if you want to, I can take you back to my place, and we could spar a little. I have a couple of really great teachers back home you could learn a thing or two from. And I can introduce you to your cousin, and my friends. I want them to know how cool you are.”Yang’s grin was all that it took to sooth the rest of Lark’s fears. 

An excited smile settled onto her features and she looked up at her big sister and gave a nod. “Oh my gosh. I can’t wait to show you literally everything. I have so much cool stuff that I can do.”

“I look forward to it, Littlebit.”

“Hey! I’m not that little.”

“Littler than me.”

She had a point there. 

\---------------------------------

Summer Rose was happy to have a moment alone with Qrow. Despite having wanted to see her daughter, she was happy when Ruby went off to train with Oscar, and the rest of her friends, who all seemed really nice. 

“Are you going to tell me what happened to you?” The question from her husband caught her off guard, and left her twisting her wedding ring on her finger. 

“Honestly---- I think it’s better for all parties if you don’t know the specifics.” 

She couldn’t see the expression on his face, but there was a tension in the air around them, like he was displeased with her answer, and she imagined arms crossing his chest, crimson eyes staring at her with a raised eyebrow. Like he used to whenever she said things that left him upset with her. 

“That’s my choice.”

“But it’s mine too.”

And she had a point. It was her suffering. And while it’d been years since the worst of it, it still hurt to think about it. To think of the effects. After all. So much had been done to her. So many times she’d been dragged to the brink of death and back, and then thrust right back out to that ledge dangling between life and death. 

She hated it. And she didn’t want him to bear the burden of her suffering anymore than he already did. She knew that if she told him everything, it’d just be a longer list of her suffering that he’d blame on himself because he hadn’t saved her that day. 

No thanks. It wasn’t his fault. It’d never be his fault. It couldn’t be his fault. 

 

Sometimes bad things just happened. 

“Summer, please.” His voice was a plea, as if looking for a reason to break everything apart, to push himself away from her, from Ruby. No. Nope. Not happening.

“Qrow. No.” She shook her head. “Don’t push it, I know you well enough to know what will happen if you push it and I give in. And I’m already damaged enough, I don’t want to chase you away with my horror stories.”

Again she found herself wrapped in his arms, face in his chest. And she exhaled a breath, before inhaling the scent of him. He smelled like Apple Whiskey and Cinnamon. A strange and wonderfully working combination. Different from the scent of cinnamon that he and his twin tended to give her. 

“You couldn’t scare me away if you tried, Shortstack. I don’t think I could live with myself if I lost you again.”

So how did she decide to start the conversation? 

“I’ve suffered through terrible things, but I’ve done terrible things too. The things I’ve done for survival---- I deserved everything that happened to me, even if I didn’t deserve it when it happened.”


	16. Number One Fan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some cuteness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for a hopefully better fight scene. It's not going to be nearly as short as the other's but it's not going to be hella long either. I got plans for this. When ya'll see me at the end you'll know why I saved all the good stuff. Cause honestly, it'd be a shame to spoil the potential I'm hiding before it's time.

“I think our daughter is shaping out to be stronger than me.” Summer’s voice almost startled her own ears. As it was though, she could feel the breeze on her skin as Ruby and Ozpin fought, she could catch the scent of summer days and strawberry roses as the two skidded past her in rapid succession. And she’d heard every attack. 

Needless to say, her daughter was on par with her, back in the day or better. It was hard to tell. “Get him, Ruby! YEAH!” That tone came from the Valkyrie girl who she’d met on a short hour or so ago. When they’d finally decided that she was no threat and allowed the children to all come out of their rooms. 

“Very good, Miss. Rose.” 

Summer wanted to say she could hear the smile in the mingled voice of Ozpin and the new body he inhabited. She had no doubt he was smiling at her daughter and her efforts. She couldn’t help but smile too, even though she couldn’t see exactly what was happening. The idea made her proud to say the least. 

“I’m getting better?”

“Definitely, but you’re not ready yet. You still have a long way to go.”

\---------------------------------

Yang lead the girl towards the back patio, where everyone would be gathered for training. And she was definitely confused. When she watched the girl’s face light up at the sight of the back of her uncle’s head. 

“Oh my Gods. Is that? No way. No way no way no waaaaaay.” Her excitement had Yang more than confused. More like concerned. 

“That’s our Uncle Qrow. Yeah.”

She looked about ready to jump out of her skin, like she was meeting a God or something? Like yeah, sure Uncle Qrow was great. But she was almost certain he was just as human as the rest of them. In more than one sense of the word. 

\------------------------------------

Larkin felt like she was going to bubble right out of her skin. There were no words for the level of excitement she felt as she realized exactly what this spar day meant for her. Qrow Branwen. Her Uncle. Her mom’s twin. HER ACTUAL IDOL. This was actually about to happen. 

“Mom told me stories about how crazy he was, and how awesome he was, even though he left. She always got a little upset at that point and kinda stopped talking about him. But like, oh my gosh. I’ve always wanted to meet him, but I never thought it was going to be humanly possible because like my mom never let me out of the camp. And I figured that I’d never-----”

“Breaaathe kid. Jeez. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Regain some of that oxygen you just lost.” Yang was trying to get her to calm down, which would’ve been a smart decision if it were posssible. But honestly, she was too wired and excited to even begin to stop and breath for a whole two seconds. 

“But thats---”

“Yes. It is. But ya gotta give me half a chance to introduce you first. Don’t go trying to make people jump out of their skin. Wait here for my signal. Okay?”

Lark nodded body rolling heel to toe in excitement. But she listened. She didn’t want to upset Yang, who popped out onto the back porch. 

\-----------------------------------

“Hey I’m back. I have someone with me that I want you guys to meet.” Yang paused a moment her attention shifting to all of the curious faces wondering who the hell she could’ve possibly brought back with her. 

She looked at Lark, and smiled as she stood rolling back and forth on the balls of her feet excitedly, and she knew that she’d made the right choice. Especially with everything they were all bound to face in an undetermined amount of time. It was easy to say that Lark needed this. A chance to showcase herself, a chance to be herself and mingle with society. Not to mention the kid needed to meet the rest of her family. 

Fuck what her mom wanted. 

“Her name is Lark, and she’s like really excited to meet you, Uncle Qrow. I mean, really excited.” 

\--------------------------------------

Lark watched for Yang’s signal and when it came in the form a thumbs up, offered with a very Yang-like grin, she rushed forward unable to contain her excitement anymore. She’d seen the way other bandits fought. But there was something about the allure of seeing actual Hunters and Huntresses train with real weapons they got to build that made her excited to watch. 

Not to mention as she stepped out onto the concrete she got to meet the one person she’d always wanted to meet. 

“Oh my Gosh.” She bit her lip, fists clenching up at her sides, a bubbly air of excitement even stronger than before---was that even possible---- surrounding her. “Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. You’re him. You’re him.” A tiny squeal left her lips. Familiar red eyes looked down into her own, and she felt like she was going to bubble straight out of her skin. “This is so cool!”

“Well you weren’t lying about her enthusiasm, Firecracker.”

“I told you. Do you think I’d lie to you, Uncle Qrow.”

“My mom used to tell me stories about you all the time when I was little and I never thought I’d actually get to actually meet you and this is happening right now-----”She paused briefly only for her attention to pass back to Yang, and for everyone else to look so confused, “Thank you, Yang! You’re the best big sister ever!”

There was a brilliant beaming grin from Yang and a strange girl she’d never actually had the honor meeting spoke next. “Big sister?”

“Oh yeah! She’s mom’s daughter. Apparently she had another one, cause I wasn’t Branwen enough or something? But like it’s cool. Lark’s cool. And as you can see, she’s super adorable.”Yang shrugged. Well at least Yang knew how to joke about the situation between her and their mom. If it was her, she’d have probably demanded answers, and cried for ten years. But shhh. Weakness isn’t a thing her mother would approve of. “But I actually brought her here to spar with us. She’s been dying to show me her semblance, so I figured why not maybe do a team fight since there’s enough of us now.”

“Teams?”

“Don’t ask. Just trust me. I think it’ll be awesome. And besides. We need the more team training anyway, since there’s chances that we might not be on the same team all the time.”

“Miss. Xaio Long has a point,” 

Lark was shocked when the unfamiliar male agreed with her sister on the note of team sparring matches. Was this space even big enough something like that? “Wouldn’t we need more space?”

“Nah we’ll make it work.”

“Yang and Ruby will be your Team captains. For this match.” Whoever this kid tanned kid was, she liked him already. “You will each pick three other members of your team, and prepare your battle strategy. The battle will commence when both teams stand in a readied position and I give word. Yang, since it was your idea, you’ll choose first.”  
“Lark. Duh.” The smaller girl grinned. She didn’t have a weapon. She had her semblance, and at the moment that was generally all she ever needed. The others tended to fight for her. Though when it came time for her to make her weapon. She had a mess of ideas already. She’d told Yang all about them. 

“I’ll take Nora.”

“Blake.” 

“Weiss.”

“Ren.” 

The girl named Nora gasped. Her friend in the green, no doubt, Ren, shrugged and took a step to join the rest of their team. Leaving Ruby glaring at Yang. “Hmmmm…. I’ll take Sun.”

So it was her, Yang, Blake, and Ren. And Ruby, Nora, Weiss, and Sun? Whoever all these people were? She could say she wasn’t entirely sure who half of them were. “Who’s who?”

Yang looked at her and started pointing at people saying names. “This is my girlfriend, and badass, Blake. And this guy here is Ren.” The two of them waved before Yang continued. “Ren is with Nora, who is the girl in the pink and white over there, Ruby is the one in the cloak. Weiss is the one in the ‘combat skirt’, and Sun is that nerd that perched on the railing.” There was an understanding nod from Lark, her hands coming to her ever present headphones. Flipping a switch on the side to turn them on. Atlas tech, that she had no idea how her mom had gotten. She didn’t really wanna know either. 

“Alright battle strategy. Everyone huddle up.” 

“Ren, you handle Nora. You two have the best knowledge of each other’s style, which’ll probably put you at fairly evenly matched. Blake, you distract Sun. But the both you need to try to not distract me. I’m going for Ruby. And Lark--- how do you feel about going for Weiss?”

“Well I don’t have a weapon. But I’m excellent in hand to hand combat situations. And I have my semblance. But when it’s activated I’ll need someone to watch my back, I won’t be able to fight directly.”

“Okay. Change of plans. Everyone focus on keeping the other team away from Lark. I got a feeling my new baby sis is gonna be our trump card.” 

She knew what they called her. She knew that Glass Cannons usually were the trump cards in a battle. But they were fragile and needed excellent protective measures. So if Yang was right and they stayed on her, and kept the other’s out. They’d have this fight in the bag. If not well----- It all depended on how fast she could work. And she could work pretty damn fast. “But I’m really adaptable, and I can use other people’s weapons too. As a bandit we don’t really get fancy we get whatever we can get our hands on, so I can fight with pretty much any basic weapon too.”

She was fast, so Gods help the other team if one of them lost their weapon during the battle. 

Everyone lined up, preparations beginning. Everyone standing next to each other, in a line about five feet away from each other. 

And she they waited for the signal. 

“Begin!”


	17. Dance Dance Rebelution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fight happens. Salem learns something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, this isn't as good as I wanted it to be, but in my defense I was half asleep writing like the first five paragraphs and then I woke up and wrote the rest, and the fight just didn't want to flow the way I wanted to. So I'll admit it's going to seem rushed. But I promise, for those of you waiting for a fight scene of actual merit. There are a few coming. 
> 
> I've been overworked (and underpaid). The last two days I've worked shifts over ten hours long, and I'm dying. I wish people would stop calling out. I am sorry about the lack of writing yesterday. Sleep was a thing, it was glorious. Now. 
> 
> What do you guys think of Lark's semblance? Tell me about it in the comments below.

"Begin!"

Ozpin's shout sent the team's racing to fill the space weapons drawn. A series of well executed blocks and dodges keeping the various different attempted strikes from landing. A set of swift kicks from Lark set to giving her the slightest leg up. (Pun absolutely intended.) Weiss stumbled back tripping over her teammates oversized weapon, Lark laughed. "Sorry, Princess."

Weiss clutched her weapon tighter, Lark could see it in the way her knuckles turned white as she clasped it. Darkness grabbed at her thoughts, the bandit way weaseling it's way forth. If her mother was spectating she'd have stepped on Weiss' wrist forcing her to release her grip on her weapon, but her mother wasn't here and this wasn't the bandit camp. 

She'd have to find another way to win this. Her eyes turned to catch Ren as he held off Nora, his bladed guns surprisingly having caught her massive hammer. The two of them locked in an intense battle of wills while chaos raged on around them. The sound of gun fire rang out, Yang’s gauntlet and her mechanical arm firing in rotation at Ruby, who expertly moved her scythe around to avoid getting hit by any of them. 

Lark lunged forward, her fist lunging in strike at an opening in Sun’s defenses. The monkey faunus, seemed only a little shocked as the first connected with his stomach. And he flew back a few feet. There was a laugh. 

The fight continued to rage on around her. 

\--------------------------------

Ruby had to jump back, nearly having been caught by one of Blake’s attacks. Well shit, this was going to be a bit harder than usual. They knew each other’s battle techniques so well, The four members of team Ruby were at odds with each other because they knew what to expect. Yang caught Ruby in the jaw with a hard punch, and knocked her back into Weiss. 

Ruby stumbled, in frustration, her expression melding into something a bit more violent than usual. The sound of blades clashing filled the air around her, but her attention was more so on Yang’s half sister, her own baby cousin. If she wasn’t carely, Lark was going to catch her off guard the same way she had with Sun only a few seconds ago. There was no room for such errors. 

Swift movements of her Crescent Rose and she caught not only one but two, attacks coming her way, knocking the attackers back. A graceful one, two combo that sent Yang and Blake back. Her attention settled on Lark, who made it in her best interests to retreat back to a place behind the two women who had been beaten back. 

Well shit. 

Ruby watched as Ren pushed himself back, propelling backwards towards the recall point of his team, who closed tightly around Lark. This was going to be cut short wasn’t it. 

\------------------------

Lark took a deep breath, sliding her headphones over her ears and she smirked. The closeness of their ranks was going to be enough, to guard her for a few minutes before she had to bring the fight back to fists and weapons while she recharged. 

Small hands reached down to pull her headphones over her ears, and there was a dull glow from her eyes as well as from the ground. Her eyes seemed to go blank. And from the ground rose three corporeal glowing pawns. Each one an exact replica of a member of her team. Another four followed, and they took the shape of the opposite team. 

A smirk rose to her features. 

Her fingers rising and falling to the beat of the music thumping in her ears, her attention laid in the control of her pawns. Before long if she was lucky she’d get to add prototypes for Qrow and the other people gathered. She had one for her mother even. She focuses as another rose up, that one mirrored after her mother. 

After she was sure that all of her pawns had fully risen to the field of battle the fight continued. Each movement that the pawns made fell in line with pieces of the beat of the music, each attack poised and aimed with a dancers grace. 

“Stay tight guys!”Yang’s voice came to her as the pawns took their beating. They fell one by one, slowly but surely. The Ruby clone having been taken out by Weiss. In quick succession with her own clone (due to the fact that she hadn’t exactly seen Weiss’ full potential in a battle, of course pieces were missing) as was the case with a majority of the others. In a matter of minutes the only one that remained standing was the one of her mother. 

The corporeal stand in for Raven however, fought with an edge of brutality, each movement meant to take down. To ruin and wreck things. Her mother had been so proud of her the day that she’d learned the final piece of her clone. Nearly perfecting it to her mother’s current state. But even then, she couldn’t keep it up forever. That was the downside to her semblance. It could only be used in bursts of minutes. But that was enough. 

When her eyes came back into focus. She reached up slipping the headphones off, and she found that Weiss’ blade had been forced from her hands. Oh, this was going to be beautiful. She ducked forward, rolling and snatching the blade right as Weiss descended upon it. 

Dodging a few kicks and an attempt to punch her, Lark narrowed her eyes. One quick well aimed strike, and Weiss’ aura flickered and died, casting her out of the fight. One down, three to go. Weiss was skilled, if she hadn’t caught the girl off guard, she may or may not have been kicked from the fight herself. 

But now she brandished Weiss’ rapier. There was a grin that came to her features as she swept forward, charging into the heat of the battle. The tiny weapon was useful. A swift movement of her hand and a swipe of the dust barrels built into Weiss’ weapon, and she pulled Burn dust, a swift shot of fire towards the other team, she caught Sun’s tail, if it wasn’t for his aura, she’d have probably singed it pretty bad. Needless to say he felt it though. 

“Come and get me, pretty boy.” She pulled Sun’s attention. Leaving Ruby and Nora to the other three------ Scratch that, Ren was out------two members of her team. Now they were back to being an even match. Shit. 

Okay so there was a lot of work to do. 

Back to it then.

\-----------------------------------

Qrow stood looking into the fight. Assessing the skills of the kid---- his niece? He’d have to talk to Raven, if he thought her hiding the Spring Maiden was bad. This was something next level. This kid was a powerhouse, if she actually trained her semblance better and extended it’s usage time, she’d be unstoppable with the right team. 

He was going to offer her a place at the academy. Same as Ozpin had offered Ruby her home at Beacon. It just seemed to make sense. She had the skill set required, even though she didn’t have a weapon. She had proficiency as he could see in at least one style, and a knowledge of dust use. 

 

Raven had taught her well. 

And she could see Raven’s joy in battle in the way the girl fought. But she was careful, almost as if she wasn’t trying to push it to far. He had to ask himself, exactly how far this girl had gone, in the midst of everything he knew Tribe was notorious for. Had this kid killed anyone? Was she as violent as she should be? 

“She’s skilled that’s for sure.”The words came from Ozpin who watched from the sidelines, standing next to him assessing the battle. 

“I’m going to offer her early admission into Haven. It’d be good to keep her close. Easier to protect her that way.”

There was an approving nod from Summer, as the sound of crackling thunder echoed through the training area. Oh shit. 

\------------------------------

Lark looked at Nora as her skin crackled with the electricity she’d shot at her. Oh shit, that smirk. That smirk was terrifying. And the way she raised her hammer, that wasn’t much better. “Lark! Get back!”

No shit, Yang. 

The girl jumped back, wings propelling her backwards in the space as the hammer came down, perilously close to her. She could feel the electricity crackling off of the ginger girl. Oh sweet mercy. That was close. 

“Yang! Tighten ranks?”

“You ready?” Yang’s voice held an edge of worry, but she nodded. She could manage another round at this point. It wouldn’t be a long bout but she could manage. Headphones back up, and Yang, and Blake brought themselves to stand in front of her. 

“Stop her!” Ruby’s voice was the last thing she heard as the next song started, before a smirk spread, and her pawns rose again, rising from the ground from their glowing puddles and making quick work of dispatching Nora. Leaving only Sun and Ruby left on the battlefield. 

Again she came out of it, her eyes blinking back into focus as Nora hobbled off the field, Ren met her on the sidelines with a smile and a pat on the head. As if to say she did good. How cute. Was it bad that one day she wanted something like that? Something more than just what she got from her family? Granted she loved the people she was destined to one day lead, but they weren’t as enchanting as the life she wanted to lead. 

Blake rushed forward engaging Sun. Leaving her and Yang to handle Ruby. Yang led with a punch, and a well aimed kick meant to sweep her sister’s legs from her body, but Ruby shot at the ground and propelled herself upwards, almost as she had with her wings, and Yang missed. 

A swipe of a hand and the dust barrels rotated again. And this time she pulled ice. Good. A shot towards Ruby, missed. Damnit. She took aim and fired another dust round at the girl, and it missed again. 

Her mother would not be proud. 

She needed something else to fight with. Maybe something that would allow her to get a little more up close and personal. Her teammate may have been off the field but at the very least----Her attention was pulled as Blake and Sun both walked off the field. Their aura’s depleted. Looked like it was just them now. But Blake had left her a parting gift. Her weapon resting on the ground. Something she could use with a little more familiarity. 

She swiped down, picking it up as Yang gave relentless fire on Ruby and Ruby relentlessly fired on her. From her understand, each hit Yang absorbed was a build up to a final attack using her own semblance. And she realized that they had this in the bag. 

Wings spread to their full extension, and Lark lifted herself from the ground rising into the sky to find Ruby on the rooftop of the house, Blake’s blade held in her grip, she dropped, having ascended to a higher altitude than Ruby, a quick motion and she was falling, her body dropping faster and faster, wings retracted to keep from catching air, giving her more speed. Reckless. But worth it. 

Yang’s distraction gave her a free moment to catch the other girl off guard, and down she came wings spreading wide at the last possible moment, catching the air as she knocked Ruby from the roof and into the ground at her sister’s feet, aura broken. And there they stood. Yang and Lark. Victors in a tiny squirmish. 

“Holy shit, kid. How many of those things do you have?” Yang’s voice breeched her ears through the adreneline rush of what she’d just done to secure their victory. 

“There’s a version for everyone I’ve ever seen fight. They evolve as I learn more about the persons battle style, and they fight like I’ve seen their counterpart fight, only in time to music. Far as I know I can only summon them when I have music playing.” She shrugged, breathing ragged, as she reached down to offer Ruby a hand up. 

“Nice work, Teams.”

\--------------------------------

An effort was made to pull himself away from Summer’s side as he made his way over to where the victors of the sparring match stood. There was a laugh from Lark’s lips that reminded him of a time when he was younger. Back when Raven had the same laugh, before recklessness on their mother’s part has stolen her innocence. 

It was this moment that he’d made the vow that he was not going to let the same thing happen to this kid. She was too damn pure to be ruined by skewed ideals. 

“Gotta say, that wasn’t half bad.” He offered up his praise. “For someone your age, your technique isn’t terrible. And your form isn’t too bad either.”   
Lark’s face seemed to glow in the praises she’d received. He remembered someone else who had been the same way when she was smaller. Her attention shifted to Ruby. “I’m going to extend you a one time offer, kiddo. If you choose you don’t wanna take me up on it, you’re gonna have to wait until your seventeen like everyone else.”

\-----------------------------

Wait---- Wait. Was this really happening?

She waited expectant for him to finish his statement. And even then she didn’t hear all of it. She heard the name of the school and she was sold. Not even a second thought. “Yes.” 

“Good, then I’ll see you tomorrow for enrollment.”

Holy shit. Did that just? How had she even managed that? She’d imagined that the approval of someone like Qrow was hard to come by, but he seemed genuinely shocked in her own skill set. And that came as just as much of a shock to her. 

\------------------------------

Salem’s eyes rested on the Seer posed beside her. Inside it’s globe was an image, as if through the eyes of someone else. A faunus girl, no older than fourteen. With a semblance that could prove to be a nuisance. As it was, it was better to nip this problem in butt before it had the chance to come back and grow bigger. 

The time was growing nearer, and she had a traitor she needed to weed out. Summer Rose was a mistake, she should’ve killed her while she had the chance. No matter, she could kill two birds with one stone. 

And it was only a matter of time.


	18. Enrollment, Weapons, and Private Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lark talks with Qrow about her enrollment in Haven, Yang has a chat with her partners, Ruby has a personal chat with Oscar, and Lark gets her weapon made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first of the series of Lark-centric chapters that are coming up, because my tiny child is important to plot and I love her so much. Lark does have a sort of secret, and I look forward to introducing the concept of her secret in the coming chapters. I think you guys will like the idea. It's gonna be great, it'll also be a bonding moment for her and Qrow. 
> 
> So we're reaching the part of the story where things are going to start heading towards the end, everything coming up is going to bring us full circle to where this entire story is going to end, and I hope you guys are ready for the coming chaos. xD 
> 
> One more thing. I have two ideas for my next unrelated to this series fic. I'm going to leave it up to you guys which one you want first. The Hummingbird Tangled AU (Qrow is Flynn Rider and I'm dying at the idea) or the Fallen AU (based loosely off the movie which was loosely based on the book by Lauren Kate, basically fallen Angel Qrow and reincarnated Summer) 
> 
> As for the next fic in the Beautiful Trauma series, I'm going to let you guys know the options for that as soon as I finish this, so that'll be in the last chapter for your voting pleasure. I have a couple of options. (there's like four more plotted fics that go in this series. So you guys will have lots of options.)

The next twentyfour hours passed with barely any consequence. Her return home had left Lark’s mother with raised brows and a lot of questions. But other than that smothering over protective mother feeling, Lark had to admit it wasn’t terrible. It probably would’ve gone the same way if she’d have explained to Raven before she’d left the day before exactly what she was doing. 

There was something picking at the back of her brain though, she wasn’t entirely sure how she was supposed to approach it with her mother, without ending up completely disowned, and it sucked. Maybe her Uncle would know. He’d done it, he probably had the answers. If anyone did that was. She was going to talk to him anyway. 

He wanted her to come to his office at Haven and fill out paperwork involving her enrollment in the next years classes. She was more than ready for it. It’d give her more distance. More clarity. If anything she needed that. 

Her footsteps echoed through the halls as she made her way through the halls of Haven. Bustling with teachers, huntsmen, and huntresses who had returned from other missions for the start of the new term. Likely because Qrow had dragged them back, she’d caught that much from her mother during one of their off handed half arguments. But now as she was approaching his office, there was a strange air of calm, the initial shock having warn off. She’d met her hero. And now her hero was becoming a more present part of her life. 

“Hey.” The gesture was simple enough as she walked in the grand doors that lead into his office, and she offered a smile. “Have a seat and we’ll get started, yeah? Yang told me you guys have plans tonight, I’d like to make sure you get to them.”

“Gods forbid you make Yang angry.”Lark let a laugh escape her lips and she shifted her eyes down to the floor. 

“She’s definitely a force to be reckoned with that’s for sure.”

\---------------------------------------

Yang had made herself at home on the roof, which was Blake’s usual hiding spot. Maybe it was this factor that she was actually betting on. After all, she wanted to talk, in a place that was sort of private. Blake had been told to bring Sun, between the two of them, someone was going to have an answer for her.

She turned her attention to the sound of footsteps before Blake settled on one side of her, Sun settling on the other. A proper Yangwich. “I know that face. What’s wrong?” It was Blake that spoke, and Yang huffed out a sort of half sigh at the question. 

Why’d she have to get right into it?

“I don’t know what to do, guys.” That was a great way to start the conversation, Yang. Fanfuckingtastic. You could’ve started on a joke, or anything but no, why not just jump right into the unwanted feelings. 

“About what?” Sun and Blake were oddly in sync and it almost made her laugh. Almost. Gods she hated moments like this. Where despite her best efforts, Yang Xaio Long could not find it in herself to fake a smile and make a witty joke.

“Everything. My moms? My birth mom? Lark. The fact that I want to protect her from everything and I’m afraid I’m going to fail. The fact that I want answers from Raven, but I don’t even know what to ask? What am I supposed to say?” She paused, shoulders deflating, body wilting and her head falling to stare at the metal arm that laid at rest in lap, “Yeah, Mom, maybe I do have some questions, like why didn’t you want me? Why are you such a cold hearted bitch? Why didn’t you help me?”

“Yang…” The almost pity in Blake’s voice hurt. The way she said her name like it was going to calm her fears. Like she was sorry. For what? Blake hadn’t done anything wrong. Not since she ran away after the fall of Beacon.

“I want to feel useful, I want to feel wanted, but ever since I met my mom all I can do is make jokes and pretend to be okay with that fact that she’d abandoned me, and I don’t know why.” There was an edge of panic to her tone, “Was I not good enough? Did she see something that I can’t?”

“Hey. Look, whatever is up with your mom, if you wanna ask questions, you won’t be alone. We don’t blame you for wanting answers.”She knew there was a reason she liked Sun. She knew there was a reason why she’d accepted him and Blake both, when Blake had told her they came as a packaged deal. Their relationship was weird, but it worked.

“But that’s not all. Something doesn’t sit right. And I don’t know how to tell Uncle Qrow, or Ruby. They’re both so happy that Mom’s back. I just---- what am I supposed to do there? The entire situation just seems off. If she’s been alive this whole time, why is she just now showing up?”

\-----------------------------------------

Ruby had been watching Oscar for about twenty minutes. It gave her something to do. Weiss was taking a beauty nap. Her mom was off doing whatever mom’s do when they’re not being moms. And she’d been left with the option of hanging out Jaune, Ren and Nora, who were out at the market, and hanging out with Oscar, who had promised that Ozpin wouldn’t make an appearance. 

With the conversation she wanted to have, she was grateful that the older soul had elected to stay out of it. Ruby needed someone her age to talk to. No offense. Sure Ozpin was wise and pretty much all knowing at this point, but there was something easy about talking to Oscar. Something natural. 

Ruby watched as his attention fell on her, silver rising to meet hazel, and she huffed a sigh, that seemed to be enough to warrant him stopping and coming over to her. He sat on the floor next to her, his frame held in a half relaxed, half tense state. She offered him the tiniest of smiles. 

“Something bothering you?”His voice was almost too quiet in it’s question. And she wasn’t entirely sure. She had questions, she had doubts, but everyone else seemed to have accepted it. Especially her dad. She didn’t want to fight with him again. Not so soon after everything had settled. And he seemed so happy. Did anyone blame her for not wanting to fuck that up?

“Am I that obvious?” She tilted her head, a soft sheepish laugh escaped her lips. 

“Yeah, just a little.” There was a smile at the edge of his features, and she had to admit she was glad she had friends like him. “Wanna talk about it?”

“It’s my mom.” She paused, an edge of confliction to her tone. She wasn’t sure how she felt. Let alone how she felt about talking about it. “Everyone is so happy that she’s home. And I mean--- Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy she’s home. But it feels wrong.”

“Wrong how?”

“The timing. The situation. After everything we’ve seen, everything we’ve been through, why isn’t anyone asking questions? Why after sixteen years, is she allowed back into our lives as though nothing happened?” She huffed another sigh, knees pulled tight to her chest, forehead coming to rest against her arms which were crossed propped up on her knees. “I don’t know if I can trust her. If we can trust her. What if she’s not who she says she is? What if she’s spying on us, or worse, acting as a distraction to something bigger? And what happens if someone else dies because we didn’t think about every possible angle because were were too selfish in our happiness?”

“I----”

“-----Don’t know what to say?”

“Yeah. I mean what do you feel is the right thing to do?”

“Keep my distance. Keep my eyes on her. Anything. I just don’t want to be wrong in being happy, and have everything end up destroyed.”

\----------------------------------

Lark found herself walking the streets slowly before heading back to meet up with Yang. Her big sister was helping her design her weapon today, and it was going to be beautiful. She had so many ideas. Though her favorite was one that would probably come as a shock most weaponsmiths. But that was okay. Because a weapon was meant to be an extension of a person. So she’d gone with something particularly original.

She flagged Yang down, standing in front of the weaponsmith’s shop, and she waited for her big sister to catch up before she went inside. 

The man inside running the shop was a kind looking bear faunus. A big smile came to her features as she approached, all the lien she could have possibly gathered on her person, and she grinned excitedly. Her feathers floofed happily, and her wings stretched only a little. She’d only ever met another faunus once or twice, much to her mother’s chagrin. 

“If you’re here to see me, you must be in the market for huntresses weapon. And since you already have a beautifully crafted gauntlet there, I’m going to say it’s the little lady shopping today?”

Lark offered a nod, “Yup! And I have a sorta specific idea. I even did a couple of sketches and have diagrams.” Lark reached into her pockets and pulled out a couple sheets of paper with sketches and diagrams on them. 

The weapon depicted was a guitar-like shape, equipped with strings and tuners, but there was a trigger like mechanism on the neck, and cylindrical openings on the bottom of the body specifically for dust, labeled dilligently as dust canals. 

“Is this a----?”

Yang and Lark looked at each other with a grin, “A guitar gun, yes.”

“This is amazing and I will make a product worthy of a no doubt talented future huntress. Any particular colors you’d like in the design?” Lark beamed at the idea, and pulled the lien from her pocket offering up the payment. 

She rooted around in her other pocket at his question, pulling out color samples she’d gathered, there was a brilliant medium grade royal purple, eggplant, and a strange orangish, pinkish, reddish color she couldn’t exactly place the name of, but it all worked in fact it was a strange combination of colors. “And maybe a little white or black as a balancer? Whatever looks good.”

The man took her money and she and Yang walked back out of the shop leaving the man with the diagrams and the colors and her ideas. She trusted that this guy would no doubt make a beautiful weapon out of what she’d given him. Even if he made his own adjustments. 

“Alright, sunshine. Time for you to fly on home, okay?”

“Yeah I don’t wanna make mom angry again. I’ll see you soon?”

“You know where to find me if you need me before our next hang out, okay? Don’t forget you can always come talk to me if you need me.” 

Lark took a moment, wrapping her arms around the taller woman, and she smiled into her sister’s shoulder. Yang seemed almost shocked by the action, but she eased and let her arms wrap around the small girl. “Thank you, Yang.” 

“No problem.”

“I love you.”

“Awwww, don’t go getting all sentimental on me.” Yang seemed to hug her tighter, she could tell by the way it felt like her wings were being constricted against her back, it was slightly uncomfortable, but the gesture was appreciated none the less. “I love you too, little sis. Now fly away home. We’ll talk later.”


	19. Landing Stategy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> About a week has passed and classes at Haven have started back up. Time to practice your landing strategy kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be re-done in detail in a side fic to this one involving Lark's team. Just so you know. And it will include POVs for Yew, Nyxxie, and Chiko as well as for the members of Team SNOW. 
> 
> I'm hoping you guys like all these chapters with Lark. I'm actually super excited to explore her story and give you guys more details into who she is. She's a beautiful character and I can't wait for you guys to get to see soo much more of her.

She’d heard the stories of Beacon entry test. If it wasn’t enough to have to have grades good enough, you had to pass a second test to earn your spot in the prestigious academy. And Lark wasn’t the least bit shocked in the days that past that her Uncle had spoken of such tests happening at Haven as well. 

And here she stood now, body poised on a launch pad surrounded by a class of about twenty others. And so far she’d met a few of them. Her favorite had to be the eccentric red haired boy named Chiko, who dressed like a female gypsy. If you looked at him from a distance, and didn’t hear him speak, one might actually believe that the boy was in fact a woman. But she’d had the honor of talking with the flirtacious little shit and she found him to be a humourous conversational partner. 

One by one she watched as her classmates flew forward, launched from the mountain side and into the line of trees below. Uncle Qrow had offered little warning, but from experience, she didn’t need one. The strap of her new weapon held it in place against the small of her back, and she grinned whipping it around as Chiko offered her a wink and was thrown forth into the fray. She readied herself, grip strong on her weapon and in a matter of seconds later she was soaring through the air, wings unfurling to guide her towards the ground. 

The landing was a little rough, her body hitting the ground, feet stumbling a little, but all in all she did pretty good, “Nailed it.” And off she set into the woods, her wings folding back into place, a quick motion cause the strap to spin forcing the weapon back onto her back. She’d practiced with it for hours before this, having taken some time with Yang to get a grip on the weapons controls and appropriate usage. 

Don’t get flustered. You’ve waited for this moment for far too long to get confused now. 

She shook her head clearing the memories of the last few days from her head, she had to focus on the now. That was the most important part of this. Footsteps came to screeching halt, words coming to memory. First person she laid her eyes on was going to be her partner. So coming to a screeching halt in front of a massive Ursa Major shouldn’t have been an issue, considering it wasn’t a person, until a person dropped down from a tree above her falling around it’s neck. Familiar flashes of red and orange told her exactly who she was looking at. 

“Chiko! You need a hand!” Lark shouted upwards to her new partner. This wasn’t the worst case scenario. She could’ve ended up with Night Blu, that girl scared the hell out of her. Black hair eyes almost black enough to stare through your soul, and a voice that would send chills down the spine of pretty much anyone. 

“Naaaaah, I think I’m good, but if you wanna help I’m not gonna get all bent out of shape about it.” There was a look and a moment before Lark pulled her weapon from it’s withdrawn state, Cherry Sunset in her grasp she took aim, fingers strumming the chords to pull dust through the dust canals and into the chamber. Her fingers took their position on the neck of the guitar, and in a few quick switches of position shots were fired and the Ursa Major was frozen into a block of ice, and Chiko landed on the ground next to her. “That was a little too close for comfort, buttercup. Maybe don’t do that again.”

The two of them walked together in silence through the woods for only a matter of moments. “There’s something about you that keeps sitting weird with me.”

“It’s gotta be my charming personality.”

“No. I mean there’s gotta be something else. I just can’t put my finger on it.” Lark looked him over, her eyes took in the sight of the fox tail that looked like it laid deadened against his back. 

“How about we play a game?”

“What kinda game?”She looked at him with a skeptical look, her head tilting to the side, and she looked him over as if searching for a secondary motive or anything else. 

“A guessing game. Here’s the rules, sunshine. You get three guesses, if you guess right I’ll tell you the truth. If you guess wrong, I win, and I get to take you out.”

That was weird, but she was going to make a point, “You do realize I’m like fourteen right?”

“Never said it was going to be a date.”

Lark let out a laugh, “Okay then what would it be?”

The approaching sound of growls was enough to almost pull her out of the fun revelry. Almost. Then she realized, she wasn’t actually afraid of the Grimm. Not these Grimm anyway, she’d faced most of them before, when they’d invaded the camp and everyone had been called to arms against them. 

“Consider it a day out with a friend. Only I get to pay.”

“Awwww, how sweet, such a gentleman.”

He gave a flourish bow, his fingers wrapping around the flute that rested at his side, and she grinned at his response, “I try, my lady.”

Her brought the flute to his lips, a quick little tune playing on the small instrument that dragged the Grimm from hiding, and then in a quick motion he smirked, and as if something shifted within the inner workings of the weapon, each new note found itself exhaling a small dart that seemed to bring the Grimm to their knees quite literally. A strike on Cherry Sunset and the attacking Grimm faded to nothing. They were left standing there again, giving each other a nod and a smile. Clearly fate had made a good choice pairing her with him. They seemed to work together flawlessly. 

“So what is the name of that beauty you got there on your back?” Chiko’s voice broke the new found silence, as he pointed at her weapon and they continued their journey towards the point that would hold the relics they were meant to collect. 

“Cherry Sunset. What about yours?”

“Swansong.” 

Nice. It seemed that they’d both been pretty damn thoughtful when it came down to the weapons and their names. He seemed like a regular Grimm charmer, and she looked like something straight out of a comic book. The two of them made a great pair. “They sound like superhero names. Cherry Sunset and Swansong save the world yet again!”

“You, sunshine, are adorable.”

“I try.”

\------------------------

Qrow monitored the students from above. His eyes examining the students on the screen. Ruby stood by his side, a choice that she’d made. Having wanted to watch a new generation, and also provide an extra layer of protection for the people participating in the entrance exam. No one would attack with a Silver Eyes present. That would just be stupid, especially in the presence of a huntsman and the children below that were trained well enough to at least attempt to stand their own in the situation if they had to.

“You know, Dad. I think this is good. I’m glad that we’re not putting a stop to the natural order of things. With classes starting back up, there can be a sort of attempt at normalcy.” He offered her a nod, and it was also the best way to keep things underwraps and out of the public eye. Gods forbid the public found out about the dangers coming. 

“Something else is troubling you though. Isn’t it?”

“I just----- Maybe it’s not best for us to talk about it here. It’s kinda a personal----”

“Ruby, we’re alone. There’s literally no one else here, and we’re in the middle of nowhere.”

\------------------------------

Shit shit shit shit shit.   
“It’s about mom.” The words slipped from her lips, and she almost immediately regretted them. Seeing the way her father’s face shifted and he reached for the flask at his side, opening it and taking a drink. She knew what he was doing. It was the thing he’d always done. He was preparing himself for an emotional conversation. And she maybe hated herself just a little bit for even bringing it up.

 

“You don’t trust her do you?” His voice sounded almost cold, but there was an understanding edge to it as he watched her, attempt to fumble for her words. She didn’t want to him, especially not when he was happy. But obviously, this was a feeling she felt she should share. 

“I want to. I really do. I just----I can’t. After everything that’s happened. I can’t just let her in like she didn’t just spend sixteen years with the woman who wants to kill me.”

“I won’t let her hurt you, if that’s what you’re worried about.” 

Ruby wished that was the only thing she was worried about. But it wasn’t. She wasn’t just worried about herself. She was worried about Weiss and Sienna (who she’d finally had the joy to meet) and Vernal. And girls like Lark who were down in the forest below fighting for their right to attend a school that would throw them right into the mix of everything. She was worried about the possibility of more people unnecessarily becoming like Pyrrha and Penny. Victims in a war that wasn’t theirs to fight. 

“I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about everyone else. What about the three maidens on our side, what about the kids down there. All the people who are being dragged into this war, that could have been sparred.” She huffed a sigh, “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of my mistakes.” 

\----------------------------

And there it was, Qrow looked at Ruby with the concern of a father. Of course she thought that it was her fault. All of it, no doubt. After all, she’d told him everything. She’d tried to save Penny. She’d tried to save Pyrrha. She’d tried and she’d failed. She hadn’t managed to protect Yang. She’d lost Weiss for a year because she hadn’t been awake to fight to keep her by her side. 

“Ruby, how many times---”

“Please don’t. Because I know it is my fault. If I’d have been just a little bit stronger, I could’ve saved Penny. If I’d have been a little bit faster I could’ve saved Pyrrha, if I’d have been more durable we wouldn’t have lost Weiss for as long as we did. If I’d have been a better sister maybe I could’ve helped Yang feel better.”

There were a few people in the world that she could actually trust to let herself fall apart in front of, and not be judged for it. As it was, her Un---Dad, was one of the people she trusted the most. Despite everything that had happened in the past few weeks. 

“Hey there, kiddo. What did I tell you about blaming yourself for things? You don’t know what might have happened. All you know is what did happen.” 

\------------------------------------

They finally arrived at the end point, and Lark found her eyes coming to rest on chesspieces scattered around the hollowed out house. A few others were gathered here. A girl named Soliel with her dark brown hair and her facial tattoos on dark skin, her partner, Wisteria a small quiet shy girl with violet eyes. Night. The one person she was hoping to avoid. Onyx your atypical neanderthal fuck boy type. And then the other two a girl with hair blue as the night sky, Nyxxie---- she thought. And another person, head of monochrome, quite literally white and black hair split even like something out of a movie, and bright red eyes the color of yew berries. Yew Midas. 

She’d heard the rumors about that one. About her temper and her touch being like poison. She thought she was kinda cool, from their first very brief interaction the night before. 

Yew leaned down and picked up a knight piece and examined it, before nodding at Nyxxie who joined her. The other’s all picked up pieces, leaving the remaining knight piece for Lark and Chiko, who picked up and held it in his hands, almost as if testing it’s weight. 

A roar was heard outside. 

Fuck. 

She took a step out the door, eyes turning up towards the sky to find a massive shadow cast over the ruined house, a massive Nevermore bigger than most, hovered above them. SHIT. “Everyone get ready to fight!”

As if her call was enough warning to satisfy their needs, everyone whipped out weapons, drawing them into action and preparing for battle. Soliel’s gauntlets seemed to activate. Looked like someone else was good with her fists. Night’s dust bracelets, that cast dust with ease. It was easy to tell that she was a primary dust user. Onyx pulled out his daggers which connected at an angle to form a bow and arrow. Wisteria tilted her head to the side, her shoes stomping down, heels seeming to activate, electricity crackling along them. 

At her side Chiko pulled his flute, and motioned to ready her own weapon. Cherry Sunset falling into it’s place in her grasp, she barely saw what Yew and Nyxxie were doing, her fingers already begin the onslaught of dust casts up at the Nevermore. Chiko kept his distance, shooting more of his semi-tranquilzer darts at the massive creature. Her attention turned to Nyxxie who was firing shots from her own customized high impact sniper scythe. (tended to be a hot choice among scythe users apparently) Yew held onto her staff, it extending, dual shots seeming to fire form the handles of two separate blades, propelling her into the air and up towards the Grimm in a motion to get a better vantage point. 

“Ready guys! You guys, flank from the right, we’ll take it from the left!”

Four and four they went at the massive beast, and the fight proceeded on and on, seemingly never ending. Every time they thought that they had the leg up. They’d lose it, and then it hit her. Fingers toggled with the headphones around her neck, pulling them into place. “Guard me! We need more numbers!”

The adreniline rushing through her was enough to keep her going, enough to push her summon her semblance as three forms came to surround her. And again from the ground spawned her small army. Her mother at it’s head leading them into battle against the beast in the sky. Corporeal holograms launched themselves into the sky. She hadn’t used so many pawns before. It was kinda exhausting. But she couldn’t let up. 

Not when they needed her most. She was relentless in the attacks rained down upon the Nevermore, and finally after almost a half hour (for a fight that should’ve only taken them about ten minutes) the Nevermore was gone, and she was left heaving for air with shaking hands. No more semblance for a while that was for sure. She didn’t want to risk ending up like Ruby had when she’d overexerted herself. Yang had been so upset. 

“We did it.”

“What the hell was that?” It was strange to see so many people speaking in unison. 

“That was a Nevermore.” Lark answered, hand reaching out to Chiko as if to give herself a brace to stand up. She felt a little woozy. 

“We were talking about the small army of lookalikes that just took that thing down.”

“Oh that----- that’s my semblance.”She almost half expected them to fight over who was going to want the power house on their team. But Soliel and the other’s all took a step back. As if renouncing their claim on the girl. Apparently nobody wanted a girl who couldn’t defend herself while using her semblance on their team. 

Oh well.


	20. Team LYCN, Team SNOW, and TEAM LVNR

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teams are decided. An old friend makes a shocking return. Lark makes an enemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. That's all I have to say in response to this thing, is oh boy.

There was a deep breath from Lark as she stood in the room filled with other students who had undergone the same entrance exam through various parts of the forested area of the mountains of Mistral. And she wished she’d been able to find Chiko before hand. Simply because her nerves were on fire and she really wished she had a hand to hold while the verdict was passed out about exactly who the other two members of their team would be. 

She was shocked when someone else came up behind her, not Chiko liked she’d hoped but a girl she’d only seen once or twice in the time she’d been here. And yet she still knew her name. White hair. Pale skin. Red eyes. Creepy as all hell. From the look of her it was like she tried too hard to be popular. 

“So you’re the freshmeat. Since when do they let kids into combat school?” Her voice was like a whisper in her ear, and she hated it already. She knew she was going to absolutely despise this girl before their encounter was over. 

“How about you step away from my partner, Lav. She doesn’t need your idea of a welcoming committee.” A sigh of relief left Lark as Chiko came up beside her, and took her hand. Before dragging her through the crowd away from Lavender and her team. “How about we stay away from her, alright, buttercup?”

Fair enough. She could manage that. She had no intentions of going anywhere near creepy crazy anymore, unless she absolutely couldn’t avoid it. There was no way she wanted to get on Lavender’s bad side. She’d heard stories about not so nice people before, and there was not a doubt in her mind that Lavender fell to the top of the list of aptly named bullies at Haven. She was happy that Chiko had arrived when he did to drag her away from the thought process of the other girl, other wise she might have heard something that she really didn’t want to hear. 

She took in the sight of her red haired partner, a smile coming to her features as they came to a stop at the line of the massive stage, which from her understanding much like the one at Beacon substituted for a sparring classroom. There was a familiar face in her Uncle up on the stage reading the opening ceremonies, which was strange, given how drunk he usually was. He seemed pretty sober at the moment. There was a beautiful woman standing next to him, she looked almost like her cousin Ruby, minus a few slight differences. 

“The first team, having collected the Rook pieces, will be Team SNOW consisting of Soliel Farley, Night Blu, Onyx Bryghton, and Wisteria Hart, led by Soliel Farley.” There was a cheer as their faces flashed across the screen, the whole room getting into the idea, in the distance she could hear hands clapping on backs. 

“Our next team having collected the Bishop pieces, will be Team LVNR consisting of Lavender Towne, Vine Blight, Navy Napier, and Royal Umber. Led by Lavender Towne.” Another set of cheers, though this one was quieter. Not too many people seemed as pleased about the development. She supposed this was with good reason. Maybe Lavender just wasn’t the nicest person at all. 

“Our last Team having collected the Knight pieces, will be Team LYCN, consisting of Larkin Branwen, Yew Midas, Chiko Briar, and Nyxxandra Blu. Led by Larkin Branwen.”

What?

The?

Actual?

Hell?

How the hell had she managed to make the leader status of her team, without a bit of formal training? Could she lead? Sure her mother seemed to think so, but honestly she wasn’t sure if that was what she wanted anymore. Was it really smart to make her the leader of a team? 

“As you all know, due to the fall of Beacon Academy, there were many left without a school, two of the teams from Beacon have elected to join your classes to continue their studies. Team RWBY, made up of Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xaio Long, led by Ruby Rose. And Team JNPR, made up of Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie-----”

\------------------------------------------------

There had been a lot of discussion the night before, upon Ironwood’s arrival, a surprise in and of itself, he trusted that Atlas Academy had been left in good hands, given that it’s headmaster had been in his presence only a few hours earlier. Though he’d come bearing a surprise that had left him grinning for hours. 

An interesting development indeed. It hadn’t taken long for him to work things out in the paper work to fit them in, and with everything, a little good news was necessary. He’d gotten the chance to look good news in the face and say hello, and now the rest of the kids would get to have the joy of the same good news he’d gotten. Maybe things were looking up a little bit. “-------Penny Polendina and Lie Ren. Led by Jaune Arc.”

\------------------------------------------------

They’d all been invited to join Qrow on the stage, and it was something that she’d been willing to do at first. A show of good faith. But as soon as her Dad started talking, she panicked a little. Ruby was a little lost, especially when he reached Team JNPR, and spoke a name she’d never thought she’d get the chance to hear again. 

“I’m combat ready!” The words filled her ears, and tears of happiness welled up in Ruby’s eyes. Of course they did. Penny was alive! They’d rebuilt her, and she was here, and she was getting what she wanted. And she wasn’t lost forever. 

Tears fell down Ruby’s cheeks, and a tiny red form barrelled towards Penny as fast as her legs could carry her. A tight hug on her end, likely threatening to dent the metal of her friends make up. But in the moment she was so happy that she hadn’t permanently messed this one thing up. Like she had with Pyrrha. 

Her eyes turned to Jaune who walked over and gave Penny a pat on the shoulder, they knew? They’d known! Okay, but honestly. This was a great surprise, one the best she’d ever gotten. 

\---------------------------------------------

Winter Schnee watched from the sidelines as her sister and her friends all seemed so happy to see the Polendina girl back in one piece. She smiled, the Ice Queen thawing for a moment as she watched them unseen. 

“It’s nice to see you smile, Winter.” Her attention shifted to Ironwood, who spoke at her side, and she offered him a demure smile.

“I’m just happy we could do something to make life at least a little bit better for these kids, considering everything that’s coming. Though, I still have no idea how you convinced him to rebuild her.”

That was the one thing that had left Winter more than a little bit confused. With all the brain in her head, she still couldn’t figure out exactly which part of his soul he’d sold to get the Polendina girl rebuilt, let alone to get permission to bring her right back into the fray of the coming chaos that was nowhere near finished. 

“I am but an average man, without my secrets, Winter.” There was an almost playful edge to his tone, and she shook her head. Though it seemed even they could relax, if only for a few seconds before everything built back up to the chaos of reality. 

“Fair enough, sir.”

\------------------------------------------------

Team LYCN. Lycan. Kinda reminded her of werewolf, probably because it was the literal meaning of the word. Made her think of the color brown, like a muddy brown wolf. She was pleased with that particular development. Lark was pleasantly surprised to actually have the chance to meet and talk to her roommates. Even more so when they stood in their dorm room. She had a team. This was actually happening. 

“First order of business, rearranging our room?”Chiko looked at the room as if it was the most boringly plain thing he’d ever laid his eyes on. 

“Okay, so here’s what i think we should do. Everyone moves their bed against a corner of the room. And you can run the bed vertical or horizontal whichever way seems to work better for the space?” Lark proposed, head tilting towards the side as she examined the room. Yeah. That idea would work. It would also optimize space for study sessions and other things, like hanging out with classmates, or whenever Team RWBY decided to come over. 

Though it still greatly upset her that she’d been asked to keep everything that was going on a secret. Couldn’t she trust her team? Wasn’t that the goal of everything to stand by and protect each other? How could they do that if they didn’t know the whole truth. 

It didn’t seem like her place though, and if she was asked to keep it a secret to keep them safe, she would. Because these guys were part of her family now, and she wasn’t going to let anything happen to them. 

Instead of focusing on such depressing topics like lying to her teammates, she elected to take a better less emotional route for dealing with the situation. She focused on moving things through the room. Her body putting all it’s strength into lifting up the bed frame and push it up against the wall, running horizontal under the edge of the window. Nyxxie seemed to get the idea and followed quickly, followed by the other two who put their beds vertical against the wall on either side of the bedroom door. 

As the other’s unpacked their belongings and decorated their side of the room, Lark realized that she didn’t really have much. Her mother had instilled in her that she didn’t need things to survive. The only thing she’d ever needed was her headphones and the music they carried and a good weapon. At the moment she had both, and a few sets of clothes. No decorations, no memories, just an empty space. Hell. She didn’t even have pictures with her and her mother. She believed that such memories were a sign of weakness. Human connection was something that could make you weak. 

She hated that. Was it wrong to want to connect with people. To know that you’re loved in ways that are shown much better than threats of what would happen if she proved to not be exactly what her mother wanted? 

Again she shook the thoughts away, checking her scroll for the time, shocked to find that classes would be starting in a matter of minutes. “Guys we should go. Our first classes are starting soon.”

“Oh shit.” Came the chorus of voices as the other’s scrambled to gather last minute things as if it would help them 

“I’m gonna go ahead and go, guys. I’ll see you later. No playing hookie either, okay?”

“You got it, O Supreme Oneness.” The jibe came from Chiko and she had to stop herself from snickering at the sound of his playful nickname and his general antics. Had he just stuck his tongue out at her? Jerk. 

Lark walked out of the room allowing the door to click behind her, she got a few feet down the hall before footsteps alerted her to someone having joined her in the hallways. 

“Hello, Little Birdie.”

Lavender.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you guys can see. I am a proud supporter of Rebuild Penny Polendina 2k17


	21. I've Become So Numb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Attack on Haven Academy Begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is only the first major battle of the fic, there is still more plot to come before the final battle back at the Grimm overrun Beacon. Please note this chapter does have graphic violence and death. Read at your own risk.

“We ready for our attack of Haven at first light. I will take care of finding the Spring Maiden and ensuring she gets us what we want. Cinder, I want your team to distract the huntsmen and the students.” Salem allowed a smile to settle across her features. All was going according to her plan. 

Summer Rose would be taken care of, the Branwen child would be taken care of, and everything would fall into place with ease. 

“Tyrian, I want you to ensure that Summer finishes her last mission. Hazel, you will alert the White Fang of our plans to invade, and Watts, you will wait here for the girl to be delivered.” 

There were murmurs and mutters around the table, most of which were in agreement to their assigned missions. And the door opened, that was a shock, as it was Daxon and Lacie weren’t due back for another two weeks. So why were the two of them standing before her empty handed. 

She was positive that she’d sent them after Lacie’s child, Yew Midas was a threat that would be better contained within her realm, instead of free to roam the world beyond. So why was she back without the child? Did she seek to disappoint?

“Where is Yew?”

“The insolent brat managed to enroll herself at Haven under the protection of Qrow Branwen, your Grace. We were unable to reach her without detection.”

No matter, another to add to the list of problems to tend during their attack. If you want a job done correctly, you must do it yourself. 

\----Days Later----

“Where are we going, Lavender?” A promise had been made, if she followed her out here, all the evidence would be erased from the girls scroll. Not that it was incriminating but as it was, there was a reason why Chiko had kept the fact that he was a faunus a secret. She’d seen it in the way that people treated the other faunus. In the way they treated her. 

“Don’t worry, we’re almost there, little bird.” She hated that nickname it unsettled her. Especially from someone like Lavender, the way she spoke it, Lark could hear the malicious intent. Everyone knew they hated each other. Why had she agreed to this?

“Almost where. I swear, I’m just going to turn around, and go back to campus.” She wrenched her arm away from Lavender’s grip and started to turn, a strong grip on her shoulder and a sudden jerk backwards, caused her to hit the ground from the unexpected movement. “What the hell is this?”

An unsettling laugh filled the air, and there was the sound of a sword being withdrawn but Lark couldn’t place it. She couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. She had to do something. Her aura flared to life, her wings spreading in preparation to fly herself out of the situation. Nothing could’ve prepared her for the pain of the blade connecting with her wing bones, slicing right through them. 

Her attention turned, finding the person who was doing this to her. Eyes widened. Summer. Aunt Summer. Uncle Qrow’s wife. Ruby’s mom. Empty eye sockets stared at her as if looking into her soul and she tried to scramble back to nurse the level of the damage done to her wings. She’d never be able to fly again. 

Panic settled in, making it’s home in her chest, if the pain wasn’t enough, the panic made her breaths come in heaved pants, her hands went for her weapon. No. Shit. No! Why had she listened? She’d left Cherry Sunset back in her dorm room. The only thing she had now was her semblance. And no hope of actually activating it safely. Hands raised tugging headphones into place. She had to put up a fight. Even if she wasn’t prepared for it. She had to fight she had to do something, anything. She couldn’t just give up and die. She wasn’t weak!

 

_“Just tell her the truth, kid. Raven thinks she’s hard but I think she’ll understand if you make a different choice for yourself. You deserve that much.”_

_“Are you sure we’re talking about the same Raven Branwen? Cause I’m pretty sure my mother would crucify me if I told her I wanted nothing to do with our Tribe anymore.”_

_“Don’t leave like I did, you’ll regret it. The conversation may suck, but it’s better to explain yourself than to just leave. Just look what that choice did to me and your mom.”_

_“Are you sure?”_

_“Look kid, if it’ll make you feel better, we can have the conversation right here in this office. I’ll be here, I won’t her temper get the best of her.”_

_“Like you’d have a choice.”_

_“Well you got me pinned there.”_

 

Music thumped into her ears, eyes closing as her pawns began their ascent. She felt the depth of the wound, shattering her aura before she realized exactly what had happened. It didn’t stop her. The first was a clone of her mother, coming to stand right in front of her in a protective stance. She couldn’t ask as much of her real mother. She knew Raven’s stance of rescue. 

She’d never needed rescued before. But now, that she needed her, where was her mom. Instinctually a hand came to cradle the wound in her abdomen. The other rising to direct a pawn in the direction of Summer. Anything to draw attention from herself. All she had was herself and her pawns, and if pawns could provide a distraction long enough for help to arrive that would be great. 

“Help isn’t coming, Larkin. Believe me. They’ve got their hands full back at Haven.” There was a twisted sound to Summer’s voice, like it was her, but it wasn’t her. Like something else was influencing her. Lark wanted to respond, wanted to say something, but at the risk of losing concentration and her only means of survival. 

Between her wings and the stab wound she was starting to feel woozy like her head was spinning. Her focus was slipping anyway. Weak. Her mother would call her weak, and tell her that she deserved to die. If her mother was here, that would be the exact thing that would be said as she laid bleeding out on the ground. Wouldn’t it? 

Funny. She’d been talking to her Uncle earlier today about exactly how to tell her mother that she didn’t want the life she’d chosen for her anymore. And now, she already knew her odds, she wouldn’t even be around to have that conversation. Tears beaded up in her eyes, as she looked up at Summer. 

“Please----- I just want to go home.” Her voice sounded pathetic. She sounded small. Like a child. She was a child. She was scared. She heard the sounds of Grimm growling in the trees around them, and there was another terrifying laugh that sent chills down her spine from an unknown in the tree line. 

Another blow decided her fate, just as a red portal opened a blade drove itself down through her back, right through her chest. The force of the strike left her heart hanging out her chest from the tip of a blade, and her body lifeless as Raven Branwen took in the scene. 

\--------------------------------------

There were very few weaknesses that Raven Branwen would admit to having. One of them happened to be her youngest child. She had stayed around to know Yang well enough to feel any sort of weakness in pertinence to the head strong girl. But Lark. She’d gotten to see her grow, had gotten to know every speck of goodness that the child held inside her. 

A child too good for the life she’d decided for her. She knew the time would come that Lark would make her decision to leave the Tribe. She was much like Qrow in that respect, and she and her twin had argued until someone had told her that Lark was gone, and that maternal instinct deep within her had screamed that someone had ambushed her. 

Rage.

Pure, unadulterated rage built up in Raven’s chest at the scene before her. Summer Rose’s dead eyes stared at her, sockets empty, punishing and unsettling. A blade plunged straight through her daughter’s chest a tiny still beating heart protruding on the blade. It took a lot to make Raven Branwen feel anything. But an enraged cry burst from her lips, as she drew her blade and rushed forward. 

Old friend be damned. Summer had taken her baby away. The only baby she’d loved with everything she had. Weakness. She’d felt weakness. She’d known it like a friend, like family. Family was weakness. Why was she so weak? 

“I’LL KILL YOU!”

\--------------------------------------------------

The chaos came in the sounds of windows breaking, and Ruby froze. She shouldn’t have froze, but they all did. For a fraction of a second, terror rested in their eyes and the whole of Team RWBY were terrified. They remembered what happened at Beacon. It was hard to forget the carnage, the terror and the loss. 

“We have to get to my Dad!” Her dad could handle himself, yes, pretty much anyone with a brain knew that much. But after Tyrian, she was honestly afraid that she’d lose him, and honestly, Qrow had been such a rock to her for so damn long, the thought of him not being present in her life scared her more than the situation. 

Footsteps drug them from their room, motions quick and almost painful, and they hadn’t even made it a matter of feet out of their room before a familiar trio caught their attention. The motion was like clockwork. Ruby reached behind her, pulling Crescent Rose free, and letting the massive scythe click its pieces into place. “Cinder.” There was so much hatred in one name it was almost like her voice was poison and Cinder was to be the victim of it’s charm. 

Ruby rushed forward, dodging several attempts to hit her with a chains of fire. She refused to go down easy. She’d fight like hell and she wouldn’t stop fighting. For everyone that had been hurt. For her mom. For her Dad. For Weiss. And Yang. And Blake. Pyrrha. Penny! For everyone that had been hurt by Cinder and the others that had allied themselves with Salem in this war. She was going to take them all down. 

A swipe of Crescent Rose and she attempted to cut through Cinder, finding that it was only an illusion. No. DAMNIT! “Where are they!? Guys?”

Silence. Where had her team gone? Weiss? Yang…. She searched for any sign of life and she found nothing. Not even Emerald who stood behind her illusion smirking at her success. She’d completely isolated Ruby when her entire team was still there. 

Her eyes scanned the room again, looking down and a strangled cry left her lips. So many bodies. So many people. She was right here. Why hadn’t she saved them? 

“Ruby! Snap out of it!” Weiss? Her eyes shifted seeing the body on the floor, bigger than her, but still small like a doll in the way it laid crumpled on the floor. There was no way Weiss could be speaking to her. Could there? The clash of blades is what pulled out, Mercury pushing Weiss back in an attempt to get to her. It wasn’t going to happen. A hand grabbed a hold of Weiss who was in the middle of holding him a blocked position with her Myrtenaster, and she pulled the girl in tight, before firing a round from Crescent Rose into the floor and using the momentum to push them back a few feet. “What happened are you okay, you just froze and you looked horrified.”

“I’m fine now. I’ll tell you later. Right now---- Attack strategy Snow Flower.”

Weiss nodded, preparing herself, a glyph forming right in front of her another shot and Ruby’s form bounced up, hitting the glyph and she flew forward, a flurry of rose petals where a girl had once been and she didn’t stop until Crescent Rose had found some sort of victim. She snagged Mercury by the leg, a quick double spin of her scythe caught one leg, and then the other, severing the mechanical marvels from his body. 

She almost felt bad. Almost. 

And then she remembered all the terrible things that Mercury had done. All the terrible things that Emerald had done and Cinder had done. 

And she suddenly didn’t feel so bad.


	22. Our Resistance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Fight for Haven. Summer's secret is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my God, guys. it's happened. I've written a fight scene with multiple facets, and destroyed my own feelings a few times. This is a pretty long chapter as compared to last few, but I tried to fit a lot in. Some of the fight scenes may seem cut a bit short, but I promise. This is not the end. There's still a little bit to go. We have about five chapters of preparation and the final battle which I estimate to be about 7 chapters in length ( as each smaller battle will be getting it's own chapter, specifically for the fact that I don't want anything to get left out because so much will be going on). Anyway! I hope you guys love this as much as I enjoyed spending two hours writing it. xD

It was like being a daze. When Summer came to she knew she was in the forest by the scent of the air around her, and she knew that the woman she was engaged in combat with was Raven. Simply by the mannerisms in the way she fought. She’d know that fighting style anywhere. She’d also felt the dead weight of a body drop from her sword with a sickening shing and a thud that sent chills down her spine. And the familiar scent of vanilla and brown sugar assaulted her senses. Lark. No. What had she done? 

“I’ll kill you!”

Her words were so cold as she lunged attack after attack, and Summer had to fight to dodge out of the way to avoid them, she dropped her weapon, unsure herself whether it was a sign of peace or a sign of surrender. She’d killed an innocent child. She hadn’t even wanted to. She hadn’t been in control of herself. It was like an outside force had been making her some sort of puppet. She hated it. 

She hated herself. 

How could she have done something so cruel? 

“Raven---- It wasn’t me. I didn’t----” She tried to formulate some sort of defense for herself but as it was the evidence was incriminating. Even she could see just how bad it looked. “Raven, please---- I have never lied to you.” 

No. She’d never lied to any of them. Except one time, but Raven hadn’t stuck around for that lie. And even then, it wasn’t exactly a lie. She had come home. She had inevitably made her way home. Then it struck her, how the hell did Salem know? 

There was a reason why Raven was trying to kill her now. She knew how Salem worked, she never got her hands dirty, someone had been pulling the strings…. Of course. The girl, the project that the Doctor had been working on to give her an edge on Ozpin. 

She dodged another attack, thankful for the blindfold that covered her eyes. It caught the tears that slipped free from her tear ducts. And measured her trajectory and lunged forward for the discarded blade, but only to block the coming attack. She knew that there wasn’t going to be a way to defend herself on the stance. But she refused to kill Raven. She had to appeal to something else. 

“Raven. Listen to me. We can settle this later, but if Salem is trying to pull something, the school is in danger, and you came here to protect it.” She had her blade held against the barrage of Raven’s attack. The flat having caught the blade and neither of them refused to let go. 

“I will never forgive you for what you’ve done.” She could hear the edge to Raven’s tone. The cruelty. She knew Raven was capable, and she feared that perhaps Salem had gotten her wish. Poison was planted and Raven would spread it, and she would lose everything. How had she found out? 

“I don’t expect you to. I don’t want you to. I don’t deserve your forgiveness.” And she believed that it was truth. “But if we don’t get back to Haven, we could lose a lot more than has already been lost.”

“Tch, ever the leader.”The words were a violent twist of words she’d heard a thousand times in her youth. Part of her wished she could see the carnage that she’d created, to have a further reason to hate herself. Guilt weighed her down, and she felt the pressure allieviate and Raven disappeared into what she guessed was a familiar red portal. Leaving her standing in the middle of the mountain forest with a small child’s body fading to dust beside her. 

She had to get back to Haven. She had to help stop the chaos. 

\---------------------------------

“You promised me that when I did this we were finished and you’d leave me alone!” Lavender was confused, she’d been promised her freedom from following this crazy woman’s orders as soon as she finished with Lark. 

She didn’t really like the kid, or her team, but by the Gods she didn’t deserve to die like she had. Especially not at the hands of family. The idea of her own body killing one of her own baby nieces she’d have probably hated herself for the rest of eternity if she’d have been forced to do that. 

She’d tried to make it easy on the older woman. Tried to make it so that she believed she’d killed an enemy, but she’d been jerked out of her focus before she could plant the final work of her puppeteering within the woman’s brain. That and Raven Branwen had made an appearance, and if there was one woman you didn’t want to be on the bad side of, it was her. Part of her had a feeling that this insane Grimm like woman wanted this. 

Gods, what had she gotten herself into. Tyrian’s grip was rough on her skin, his stinger resting firmly in the small of her back, as if to keep her from making any trouble. She just wanted to go home.

“I’m afraid we had different plans, little flower. You’ll be our Goddess’ greatest weapon yet.”He seemed proud of himself. And she wanted to wipe that pathetic smirk off his face. 

\--------------------------------------

There was a sip from his flask. Eyes turning up as a presence entered the room and with practiced ease, Qrow reached for his weapon, it resting tightly in his grip. He lunged forward, his form vaulting over his desk. Crimson eyes narrowed on the woman, so Salem had crawled out of her hole at last, he’d die before he let her get her hands on the relic.

“Ah, Qrow. Did you enjoy your gift? I put plenty of thought into her.” If this sick bitch thought that he was going to give into her attempts to anger him, well she was right. If his grip had loosened any on his hilt of his broadsword, it tightened to a white knuckle grip at her words. “Where is the Summer Rose? I’d like to say hello.”

“Fuck. Off.”

A silver glow imminated through the room, and Qrow almost thought he was going to go blind from the brightness but a hand came up to shield his eyes, as Ruby made her way into his office, Silver eyes blaring brightly. 

“Ah--- The Little Rose join us.” There was an edge to Salem’s voice that unsettled him. “I’ve been wanting to meet you.”

\-------------------------------------

Ruby had fought like hell to get through the hordes of White Fang soldiers, Grimm, and Salem’s lackey’s that rested within the confines of her path towards her father’s office, but she’d done it, with practiced ease. Silver eyes blared to life and she started into the office with her attack, leaving Yang, Blake, and Weiss with Raven who had arrived and thrown herself right into the fray. 

White light built in her hand, she’d been practicing. She’d gotten better. Way better. Silver attacks shot from her hand, at the woman, “Are you okay?” Her voice was directed towards Qrow. As her attacks relentlessly barraged Salem despite her best efforts to attempt to converse with her. Ruby would not be moved. 

There was an angry shout from the woman and she made a move to flee. Good. Because Ruby wasn’t yet strong enough to take her down, not alone anyway, and in all reality. If Salem fled the battle could be saved for another day, after they saved Haven. 

The woman fled in a rage, each of her attacks parried by Ruby’s silver bullets as she liked to call them. She was so tired, her hands were shaking again. 

\----------------------------------------

Shit.

While his vision was dotted with violent white dots as he came back from the intense light his daughter had been producing, he could see that her hands were shaking violently, and he wasn’t sure if it was from the fear of the situation, or from the amount of her aura she’d expended to ensure that they beat the worst of the problem back for the time being. Either way, he needed to calm her down, she had to get back out there and fight. They both did, the danger still hadn’t passed. 

He moved over to her, hands coming down to take hold of her hands to still them. His eyes sought widened terrified eyes. “Ruby. Take a few deep breaths for me. It’s okay. I’m okay. We have to get back out there.” He felt her hands still on their own as she came down from the adrenaline. And he let out a sigh. 

“Her presence is terrifying.” Ruby’s voice was so small, and he nodded, pulling her into a hug, that lasted a short few seconds. 

“She’s not gone.” It was Summer’s voice that hit him next, her breathing was heavy, and he could tell by the sound of her voice that something was wrong. Something that had her just as terrified. “She’s going to find Vernal. We have to keep her from getting to maidens.” 

“We need to talk later.” After this was taken care of they’d have to handle whatever was bothering her. 

“If your sister has her way, there won’t be a later.” That was oddly cryptic and slightly terrifying, how had Summer angered Raven? It didn’t matter at the moment, footsteps rushed forward, Ruby, Summer, and himself rushing after Salem into the halls of Haven Academy. 

\---------------------------------

Yang huffed breaths, fatigue catching up to her, with the number of hits she’d taken. She was barely standing, still conscious though, so that was good. She had a fair amount of strength built up for use when she finally caved in and activated her semblance. But it wasn’t time yet. 

“You don’t know how to stay down do you?” Yang froze, that voice, Adam. Her hand shook, and for a moment she was actually scared, until Blake and Sun set a hand on either shoulder, as if to lend her their strength. 

“Nope.” A smirk spread to her lips. She could face this, they all could. Together, and that was what was going to make this battle so much easier to win. A shift and a lunge and Ember Celica activated and shots fired. This one was their fight. He wouldn’t make it out of this one alive. That was for damn sure. Yang was going to ensure as much. 

Adam seemed prepared however, which was fine. Inevitably between them all, he’d fall, and she’d finally be able to sleep without nightmares. His blade struck out at her, and she had raised her arm to prepare her defense when Blake’s Gambol Shroud parried the attack, freeing her up for another strike. She punched him, hard, in the face. She watched his mask crumble to the floor under the force of her hit, turns out with enough force Grimm mask were easily destroyed. Good to know. 

“Adam! Stop this.” Blake’s words were no match for the force of Yang’s frustration. And they seemed to be no match for Adam’s fury. Not that it mattered, Yang knew that Adam wasn’t going to stop. He’d made his vow, he intended to destroy everything that Blake loved, but Yang wasn’t going to let that happen.

“I believe it’s too late for peace talks, my love.” There was an edge to Adam’s voice, that set Yang on edge. He’d done something. He knew something. “What with what I’ve done to you dear old dad.” 

“What----?”

The scene seemed to freeze for a moment, everyone stilled. “Hmm, I thought they’d send word. Seems that Menagerie doesn’t believe in her leaders anymore. Ghira Belladonna is dead, assassination they say, what a tragedy.” His tone was mocking, and Yang’s anger grew in triplicate. Hair blazing brilliantly bright in blinding flames, eyes burning red, and she gave him no room for reactions. 

No room for a fight. No room for mercy. 

Fists flew, in a fury, pounding harder and harder with each passing second, and she didn’t stop. Blake deserved the chance to take his life if she wanted it, but Yang’s anger had gotten the better of her, and she’d gotten him down, and she kept him down. There was no way in hell he was going to get up. No way in hell she was going to give him the chance to keep talking. 

“Yang! Yang stop!” Blake’s voice reached her ears, but it was like it was in a distant tunnel, in the sound of her angry shouts and frustrated grunts as she continued to pound into him. “Yang! He’s dead, stop!”

It was the tears in her girlfriend’s voice that had broken her out of her rage, and her own tears started to flow. She’d killed him. Adam Taurus was dead. And his blood was quite literally on her hands. Was it bad that she didn’t feel anything, except sadness? 

She pulled herself up from her position straddling the now dead Adam, and she moved over to Blake who seemed lost. 

“He can’t take anything else away from you, I am so sorry.”

It was strange to be the one running away, but at the moment, she afraid of what they would think of her. She’d just killed another person with her bare hands like it was nothing. He hadn’t even had a fighting chance. He’d only struck at her once. And she’d completely obliterated him. She felt like a menace. She’d killed a bad person sure. But she could almost see the fear in Blake’s eyes, and the apprehension in Sun’s. They were scared of her. Her partners. Her lovers, where afraid of her, of what she was capable of. And she’d ran. To put distance between them and to blow off the rest of her steam in their fight against their remaining enemies. 

\-----------------------------------------

Nora had to admit she was angry. Of course she would be. One of their teammates, and friends and been straight up murdered by the woman standing in front of her, and all she wanted to do was avenge her friend. 

Cinder fired another arrow, that spiralled toward her with a glowing red with the fire magic embued in it. And she lunged out of the way as the arrow instead embedded itself into a wall. Her hand held a tight grip on her weapon, and she bashed a Grimm out of the way as it attacked them. It gave a yelp and faded to dust in the air. 

Raven had left with the legless Mercury what seemed like an eternity ago. Which left the newly fully reformed (albiet with a new member) Team JNPR and Weiss Schnee fighting Cinder and Emerald. 

Penny lunged a barrage of newly made swords at Emerald, a smile on her features, seemed that she was at home in this situation and that was good. It probably also helped that it had been revealed by Ruby the night before that the people who had caused her destruction the first time. But that was just a guess. Nora grinned as shot of lightning knocked her back and her skin crackled. 

This was going to get good, really fast. 

\----------------------------------------------

Chiko looked to Onyx who gave a short nod, the two of them were lost in a mess of White Fang and Grimm. Like the rest of the damn school. If they could just get rid of them, but as it was, every time they tried the situation seemed to get worse. It was getting chaotic. 

Onyx offered a shrug, pulling his daggers out of a Grimm and forming them into their bow form, arrows formed and he pulled and released, pulled and released. It was a process of completely destroying the enemies gathered around them. 

There was a moment however brief where they both froze when an unfamiliar massive male approached, and he was tempted to force his bow into focus on the male, but he didn’t when the male grabbed a Grimm and slammed it’s head into the wall, watching it dissolve. “Keep fighting. And don’t ask questions.”

\------------------------------------

He knew things. Of course he knew things that would be beneficial to Summer, and preserving her life. It was strange how certain discoveries could lead to a drastic shift in loyalties. Turned out Salem wasn’t entirely truthful in her methods of gaining followers. She’d told him that his entire family had been murdered and that she’d give him the strength to avenge them. Funny thing she’d failed to mention, she’d been the one that had murdered them all. 

Hazel was unsure where his loyalties lied, until she’d forced a child to have a hand in the death of another innocent child. That had settled it. He hadn’t signed up for this shit. So when he’d come across the two kids in the hallway, trapped behind a barrage of Grimm and the occasion White Fang warrior that hadn’t been completely consumed by the attacking Grimm. He’d offered his services. 

Salem wasn’t a force worthy of his efforts any longer, he wouldn’t give her his energy or his service any more. No. His services would go to a cause that deserved them. 

\-------------------------------------

Ruby ran following after Qrow and her mother, to where they’d find Salem, and they found her alright. Attempting to force Vernal down into the catacombs beneath the school. “Ruby, you can do this.”

Ruby looked at her mom, as her hand linked with her own for a brief moment, until her mother collapsed gripping the sides of her head in pain as Salem raised her hand to her. As if on a cue, a small bug like Grimm crawled it’s way out of her mother’s skin, and skittered across the floor back towards Salem. And a bright light illuminated the halls of the catacombs, when it calmed it revealed Summer eyes blazing brightly with the full force of years of experience in usage of a power Ruby had only discovered a year ago. 

“What!? No, how is this possible!”

“Did you honestly believe that you were the only one with tricks up your sleeve, Salem? My powers are linked to my aura. Not my eyes.” There was an edge to her mother’s voice and she fought the urge to take a step back. Silence falling among anyone aside from her mother and the woman that they both sought to kill. “News flash, Salem, someone lied to you.”

A hand rose, and Ruby watched the large beam of light grow in her mother’s hand. Triplicate the size of what she could manage. “Then I’ll just have to kill you.”

The air was tense, and Ruby noticed the flakes of petals tearing from her mother’s flesh. A breeze floating through catacombs where there were no doors or windows for a such a breeze to spawn from. 

“I know it was you, Salem.” The first attack fired. “I know you had a hand in forcing mine.” Another attack, and more petals flaked off as the wind picked up causing the petals to spiral around her mother. “It’s just like you. To force someone else to kill an innocent child, just because she had a power that threatened you. How did you do it?” 

Ruby reached out towards her mother, her hand getting caught on one of the petals, a gasp escaped her lips as pain splintered through her hand before dying off. The petals were razor sharp. This was her mother’s semblance. 

“You can’t clear your name, if there’s nothing to clear. Stop looking for ways to place blame elsewhere, child. And perhaps place blame where it belongs.”

Ruby’s own silver eyes blared to life, at the woman’s strange accusation. Her mother seemed angry, something had happened, but that Grimm that had crawled from inside her led her to believe that whatever had happened hadn’t been her fault. “You’ve incriminated yourself, Salem by removing your pet.”

A blur of silver and rose petals flew forward towards the woman, but in a fade of black, Salem was gone. And so was Vernal and the catacombs were empty leaving the three of them standing in the narrow hall until her mother’s body collapsed. 

“What the hell just happened?” Ruby looked at her father, her eyes confused. 

“Salem just took the Spring Maiden. And I need a drink.” He dipped down to scoop Summer into his arms from the spot she’d fallen to, and Ruby followed him as he led the way back out of the catacombs.

\---------------------------------

As if by some unheard call, Cinder and Emerald made their escape swift, not bothering to stay for a battle they were sorely out numbered for. And a number of the White Fang warriors seemed to flee as well. The dust had settled and the sky was dark in the sky. The only battle left to fight being the one against the Grimm that hadn’t retreated. 

They were easily dispatched, and the school was left filled with students staring at the wreckage of the place that had only been their home for a few weeks as it laid in shambles. But there was no worries, it seemed everyone was eager to be helpful. 

Meanwhile, Raven hovered over a boy, lacking his fancy metal legs thanks to her niece. A twisted smirk resting on her features, the only sort of emotion she seemed keen to show a this point. The boy’s arms were tied behind him, and she stood her face in his face. 

“You will give me the answers I want. Or this is going to be a very very bad time for you.”

“I think I’ll take my chances.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you could vote on both of these polls for me, to let me know what you'd like to see next, as we come to the end of this fic, I'd like to get my prep ready for our next adventure in chaos. 
> 
> Summer/Qrow Fic|| http://www.poll-maker.com/poll1949593xa2664294-51  
> Next Part in the Series|| http://www.poll-maker.com/poll1949600xa12656ab-51


	23. In Preparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer deals with some of the repercussions of her run in with Salem, and Team GOOD prepares for battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little all over the place but I was having a hard time figuring out exactly how to write this transition, because we're setting off towards the main battle. The final battle in the war is coming ad the world will fall guys. I'm so excited that you've stuck with me this long and I can't wait to finish this project, so that we can move on to the next in the series, and another project that I'm super excited for.

Days had passed, the school that had once been in shambles was starting to make a startling recovery. The students had all been very helpful in repairs, and it was nice to see such a wonderful show of community from the children. It gave hope. It gave much hope where Summer Rose was supremely lacking in the department of hope, especially since Salem’s last appearance. It seemed to give so many a renewed sense. It’d sapped all of it out of her. 

Could they blame her? 

I don’t think they could. She could practically feel the students sitting in nice little rows while the remaining members of Team LYCN stood up on the massive stage, pictures of a happy and smiling Lark crossing a holoscreen. She knew how these sort of memorials went, even if she couldn’t see them. She’d seen her fair share. 

She needed to get out of there. Qrow had convinced her that her presence wouldn’t be unwelcomed, but she felt like she didn’t belong at the memorial for the child she’d murdered. Of all the things Salem had ever made her do, she’d never been made to kill anyone under the age of being able to fight back (not that they’d ever gotten the chance). Lark hit her like a ton of bricks. Slamming into her chest and making it hard to breathe in the crowded room. 

She rose up from her seat with no preamble, feet carrying her down the long aisle way, far too fast, out of the auditiorium. Even now that she was out of there, she was still having a hard time breathing. And she couldn’t stop the tears that came. 

“Mrs. Rose?” The voice was so strong, and familiar. She wanted to crumble into the source and she wanted to sob. If only because she’d been holding it in. Qrow seemed more than calm about the idea of reassuring her that it wasn’t her fault. But it was. How could he say that it wasn’t? 

“I killed her.”

As soon as the words fell out, Summer crumbled, her back sliding down the wall, as she leaned against it, her own weight becoming too much to bear. “I killed her. She was just a kid and I----”

Why was it so hard to breathe? Why did it feel like her throat was constricting on her? Why did it feel like her entire body was trying to kill her? Probably because she deserved it---- No. Shut up. Raven should’ve killed her when she had the chance. She could imagine that if she still had eyes present in her head, they’d have portrayed everything her mind did. The constant whisperings telling her that she didn’t deserve to live, the frantic screaming that she was a terrible person. Like her brain didn’t think she knew that already. 

“Summer----” Ozpin’s voice mingled with the kid again, and she squeezed her eyelids closed. Her heart pounding in her chest as her lungs burned struggling for oxygen against the onslaught of tears and her own sheer panic. Or perhaps it was anxiety? Maybe both? She believed they both applied in this particular situation. 

Murderer. 

It’d been so long since she’d had such terrible thoughts about herself. She’d come to accept the things she had to do for Salem to stay alive, but this wasn’t for survival. This was because she wasn’t strong enough to fight off the influence of a Grimm. A parasyte implanted in her body to make her still have use even after her deflection. 

Child Murderer. 

“Summer.” The voice was trying to coax her back from the darkest parts of her mind. She remembered a time once back when she’d been in attendance at Beacon, when Ozpin had been trying to teach her how to use her powers. When she’d had to consider telling Qrow the truth about what she could do, when they’d first started dating. It seemed so insignificant now. She’d been worried he’d hate her, or think she was crazy. 

Now she was terrified he’d hate her for entirely different reasons. 

“I’ve proven them all right.”

How did she know that there wasn’t another Grimm inside her, just waiting to sneak out and----- “You’re a victim, Summer.”

The words from the wise man, stunned her. Was she? Wasn’t victim a word reserved for people who got hurt in situations like this? Wasn’t Lark the victim, and she the criminal? Wasn’t this all wrong?

“Did you want to kill her?” The question caught her off guard, making her pause a moment, a much needed deep breath, filling her lungs. And she turned her head down. 

“No.” 

“Would you have killed her if Salem hadn’t been involved?” There was Ozpin’s wisdom. And it hurt, because she didn’t want to still be a victim. She thought she was free of being Salem’s victim. But no. She was now. She was free from Salem now. Her parasyte Grimm was gone and she was free. There was no connection left. Was there? If there was she’d have destroyed it with her outburst the other day in the catacombs. 

“No. No I wouldn’t have.” Her thoughts cleared, only a little. The whispers insisting she was a murder tapered off into nothing. “I’d have died before I let her die.”

“That’s how they see it. And Raven, will have her answers in time. And will come to know the truth as well.” 

Her breathing came a bit easier the more that her former mentor spoke. And she heaved a sigh, hands coming up to dab at her eyes, drying them. “I’m going to make Salem pay for what she’s done.”

“Of that I have no doubts, my dear.” 

\---------------------------------------

Several hours after the memorial finished, the masterminds behind Team GOOD as Ruby like to call them sat surrounding a gigantic table, page after page of battle strategies and plans laid out on the table. They didn’t really have a long time to sit and think about exactly what they intended to do their strategy. The were running out of time, because as it turned out another child went missing, and the longer they waited, the less time they had to save her. 

And Ruby wasn’t going to stand by and watch as another child was taken from the world by Salem. No matter how mean she was. And Lavender by no means could in any respect be considered a nice person. From the day they’d started at Haven, Lavender was a bitch. There was no other words for her. But she was a person too, and a person that didn’t deserve to be in Salem’s clutches. 

“So we have Jaune, who has a bad ass semblance.” Turned out he’d managed to awaken it during the battle for Haven. And she’d worked on her Silver Eye powers and her hand to hand combat skills. They were about as ready as they could ever possibly be. “Two Silver Eyes. Two of the Four Maidens, and a whole shit ton of back up.” The words came from Yang who seemed to not care about nearly as much as she once had. It was a disheartening thing to think about to say the least. 

“We need to draw the focus away from Haven.” Ironwood spoke up, and Qrow seemed to be in agreement with the General, for once. It was a miracle. 

“Beacon. We’ll fight at Beacon, and we’ll destroy that dragon, and we’ll fix our school.” Ruby’s voice was strong, all the leader that Ozpin had believed she had the potential to be. And she let a smile spread to her features. It was almost over. Soon this war would be over and they could go back to leading their normal lives. They could go back to being happy and safe.

“That would require a large scale evacuation of Vale.” 

“Then I suggest you get started, General.” Ruby’s attention turned to her father who spoke, and she was glad he seemed to be in agreement with her plan to stage the final battle on the ruins of Beacon where this had all started. 

Ironwood didn’t even seem to be in the mood to fight. Good. That meant that they were going to get what they wanted. “Now, battle teams.”

Ruby looked at all of her paper work. “Jaune, Ren and Nora, you guys will be taking on Cinder and Emerald. Remember, Emerald’s semblance is illusions. So you’ll have to be ready for anything.”

“Oh yeah, and Cinder has arrows that can reform when blocked to proceed towards their target.” Cinder’s use of the maiden’s powers was frustrating. She didn’t deserve them. 

Ruby’s attention turned towards Sienna Khan who was seated next to Kali Belladonna and Blake. “High Commander Khan, you will be holding the remaining members of the Adam’s followers at bay, with your men.” Ruby nodded, pleased with that idea. “Odds are you’re gonna know more about how to fight them then we will.”

“Aunt Raven, you and your clan will be in charge of the Grimm. Keep them at bay and keep them off of us?”

There was an edge of confidence to Raven’s response, “Child’s play.”

“Weiss, Yang and Hazel---- Welcome to the team by the way, sir. You guys will fight wherever you’re needed. Odds are Tyrian will be a problem who makes an appearance. You guys will be in charge of him if he does show.”

“Dad, Oscar/Ozpin. You guys are going to watch me and Mom’s back while we take care of the big issue.” Ruby’s eyes narrowed, a mature edge to the way she carried herself that was unsettling to see in such a young girl. Seventeen was far too young to have so much experience. “When this battle is over, Salem will no longer be a problem.”

“Everyone clear on their positions?” There were a series of murmurs among the younger members gathered at the table, and more serious nods and proclamations from the adults. Ruby felt proud of herself. Here she was, a child commanding an army, getting ready to head straight into a battle she may not be able to win. But she was determined to give her damndest in making sure that Salem paid for what she’d done. 

“General Ironwood, if you and Winter could begin the evacuation efforts as soon as humanly possible. We don’t have time to waste, this battle has to take place this week. The life of a maiden, and a child is on the line and I don’t intend to let anymore lives end before Salem’s.”

\----------------------------------------

Qrow could say he was proud of Ruby, albiet a bit unsettled by how easily she handled passing out marching orders. He could say that he was proud. She was taking this seriously, and she was ready to fight for her life. This time he would not fail to protect them. His semblance would not stop him from keeping his wife and daughter safe in the battle to come. 

They all split up, he watched in silence as Weiss and Winter Schnee shared a particularly heartwarming goodbye, unsure if they’d have the chance to see each other again. And before long Winter and Ironwood were gone, taking to the sky in their massive airship, heading off to evacuate Vale so that the battle could commence. They would be preparing to leave later that night. Having earned passage on a few Mistrali airships that would give them passage all the way back to Vale. An entire army mobilized. 

Qrow believed he’d chosen to leave the school in good hands. He had to, because he couldn’t stay behind and guard after it himself. 

The plan was, not only thoroughly discussed between himself, Ruby and Ozpin, but already set in motion. They’d head back to Beacon, and begin the purging of the Grimm Dragon that had made itself stone upon Beacon tower acting as a beacon for other Grimm. Then they’d prepare the battlefield for their battle with Salem. 

There was nothing more unsettling than sending children into a war like this. Especially his own child, and his niece. He wasn’t fond of the idea, anyone could see that this wasn’t exactly the greatest idea. But as it was, it was the only idea they had with a remote chance of working. 

\----------------------------------

“Let’s do this.” Bags had been packed and Ruby and Yang stood next to each other, not exactly excited by the idea of heading into a war, but happy enough to have each other to fight with. Ruby nodded, to Yang’s proclamation, the first step being taken to board the ship. The airship would carry them to Vale, and the end would begin. 

There was an edge of fear to her tone, when she finally spoke. “Let’s go save our school.”

\---------------------------------

The next twenty four hours passed in a slow crawl as the airships made their way towards Vale. The Mistrali airships traveled a lot slower than the Atlasian airships, so hopefully by the time they made their way back home they’d found Vale evacuated, all of it’s citizens moved to surrounding cities where they’d be safer than being right up close to the action. 

Ruby laid with her back against Weiss’ chest, the older woman threading her fingers through short hair, her motions were seeming to slow, meaning that no doubt Weiss was getting tired and starting to drift to sleep herself. Which was welcomed. They all needed sleep, especially considering in a few hours they’d arrive back in Vale, and be preparing for the chaos of another battle. 

The war was almost over. Ruby had to keep reminding herself that it was almost over. After all, when it was over, they were free and she could finally take Weiss on a real date. Or maybe the opposite would be a thing. She wasn’t exactly sure how dating physics worked ninety percent of the time, after all, Weiss was her first partner.

Arrival time: 4 hours. Time creeped slower, and Ruby allowed herself to drift back to sleep.


	24. Dragons and Knights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations for the Battle at Beacon Begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's coming! 
> 
> THE END BEGINS NEXT CHAPTER.

The airships hovered a few feet above the ground and Ruby stepped out falling toward the ruined property of Beacon, a year into it’s fallen state. Professor Port, Professor Oobleck and Professor Goodwitch were all gathered, fighting an onslaught of Grimm as she and everyone else that had arrived made their landing strategies, shots fired as they brought themselves to landing, and joined the battle. Clearing out the Grimm one by one. If this was the worst thing they had to deal with in the coming weeks, then they were doing pretty damn good. 

It wouldn’t be. 

Ruby knew that it wouldn’t be. Now that she’d actually met Salem for the first time there was an edge of fear in her at the thought of having to fight the woman again. This time to the death. She and her mother could do it. If anyone could do it, the Rose women were it. They were fully capable, and they had two of the strongest men under the sun guarding them to prevent foul play. This was going to be one hell of a battle. 

They worked to dispatch the lower level Grimm as their numbers grew, and soon the huntsman and huntresses outnumbered the creatures of Grimm roaming the property. Giving them an edge up which was nice. But as it was, the problem still stood. “Weiss. Summon us a knight?” There was a smile from her girlfriend, and with much focus a knight that towered over them rose from the ground. 

Sounded like something straight out of a fairytale. A knight fighting a dragon to save something. Though, in this case, instead of a princess it was a school. But still the premise still stood. Beacon was a beautiful fallen structure under the forceful claws of a dragon, and they were here to steal her back. 

\-------------------------------------

Jaune drew his blade and his attention turned towards adjusting his aura as it flared to life around him and summoning his strength, this was going to be one hell of a fight. Since he discovered the absurd amount of strength granted when he channeled his aura through his weapons he felt like a freakin’ superhero. He liked to call his semblance the Aura Knight. It seemed to make sense. Considering the fact that it granted him the ability to concentrate his aura into his own defense, on a level the likes of which the other’s had never seen. A reflection of attacks back on the attacker at double the strength he’d received. 

Needless to say it was a beautiful thing when facing down a gigantic dragon that seemed to be waking up from it’s stone-y state. Shit. 

\--------------------------------------

“Mom! Get ready!”There was a nod from the other side of Weiss’ massive paladin as silver illuminated the air earning gasps from the few who had yet to see the beautiful sight of the two women preparing to destroy whatever stood in their way. 

Ruby watched as Jaune lunged forward, striking his sword straight down into a crack in the stone facade of the massive dragon Grimm. The stone cracking outward and falling away, giving way to it’s rise. It sounded angry. Good. 

Weiss’ paladin was the next into the fray as Ruby and her mother stood still focus on the growing orb of vibrant silver light that seemed to grow between them. A focus of two energies, something they’d only recently discovered they could do. The concentrated beam of silver growing between them a line of focused energy from each woman, seemed to grow and grow and grow while the summoned knight made it’s attack on the dragon that wailed angrily. Be it at the silver glow or at the paladins attacks. Ruby was unsure. 

“Ready whenever you are, mom!” The massive collection of energy seemed to expand and then in a single second it created a focused beam, a constant stream of light flowing towards the dragon as it flew towards them, the knight laying defeated, Jaune falling to the ground to avoid getting hit by the incoming blast. If she’d have had time to focus on it, she’d have probably laughed at the way that Nora caught him. 

But no. She was too busy focusing on the fact that the dragon consumed the rays of light that burned it from the inside out, and exploded it. The sound of animalistic screeching broke through her eardrums as the other Grimm that had descended upon them seemed to grow louder before fading out. The light having cleansed them as well. Good. 

\--------------------------------------

Salem’s rage was a force to be reckoned with. The woman’s anger at the incompetance of her pets seemed to only grow. Between her pawns and her pets it seemed the only way to get the job done correctly was to do it herself. 

“Prepare for battle my pawns. This ends tonight.”

There was a sickening grin twisted upon Salem’s features as the members of her table, what remained of them, rose up and prepared to head off to their respective chambers to prepare for the coming battle. There was a surge of excitement in the air, and the smallest of smiles broke over Salem’s features. 

Tonight she would put an end to the two thorns in her side, and the world would be hers. 

\--------------------------------------

Setting up for a battle wasn’t exactly easy. Though it made her happy that they could add three new faces to the roster of people willing to fight with them. And the more time seemed to pass the more numbers they gained. Coco and the rest of Team CVFY had arrived, and Cardin Winchester and his team had made an appearance. Even Taiyang had arrived, only to find himself shocked to find Summer standing there in one piece and very much so alive. 

As their numbers grew, her hope for their victory seemed to swell. The final addition to their numbers came in the form of General Ironwood and Winter Schnee pulling back into their battle positions. 

As it looked. They held the upper hand, and with hope it stayed that way. Ruby was more than happy to assign positions to everyone. Team CVFY had been split up, part of them set to face Tyrian should he arrive, and others sent to help Team JNPR with Cinder and Emerald. She wished she could be in two places at once, because she owed Tyrian for poisoning her dad. But she couldn’t, and Salem was her top priority. 

With the Dragon Grimm gone, the preparations for battle were in full swing and yet again, Beacon became a battle ground for a war the rest of the world aside from their numbers needn’t know about. 

Soon it would end. And the world would be free.


	25. NOTICE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little heads up.

Hey guys. I know it's been a few weeks since I posted, and I wanted to let you guys know that I haven't abandoned this story. I will actually finish it. My life has been a little hectic and stuff so it might be a bit before the next chapter is up. Consider this a hiatus, I have begun working on the final battle though. I'm about halfway through the first fight of the battle. Heads up; the death count is one so far. Who it is, welllllll----- I'll let you guys have a bit to theorize. Again. I apologize for the lack of updates, and I hope I can get the next chapter done for you guys soon.


	26. Memoirs of the Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaune vs Emerald. Ren, Nora, Coco, and Velvet vs Cinder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my God, so I know it's been about a month since I've posted anything other than my Notice of the Haitus. But in light of some shit that went down at my families holiday celebration I needed a distraction and thus you have the first fight of the final battle. Merry Christmas.

Thunder rolled in the sky about them, and Jaune Arc had to say that he wasn’t entirely sure he was absolutely ready for this moment. How could anyone be ready to go to war? There was no such thing as ready to risk your life for something. No one really wanted to die if it were at all avoidable. 

And yet, there he stood, metaphorical war drums pounding in the sounds of his heartbeat in his chest, and he was almost certain that no matter how this ended, there would be some sort of retribution for those that had been lost in a senseless battle over relics he hadn’t even known about a little over a year ago. 

It took him a moment, a pause to realize the exact moment when the thundering sound of war drums had stopped being his heart, and had been replaced with the sounds of heavy Grimm rushing forth, along with the sound of feet pounding the pavement towards them. This was their home, and Jaune intended to fight for it with every fiber of his being. 

Of his team, his weapon was the first to be drawn, armed and ready to fight, he stood ready to lead the charge. They all had their marks. Groups divided to take down smaller enemies. Cinder and Emerald were their targets. Find them, and get rid of them. That was their mission at this point. 

Grimm rushed in, and the slashing of weapons and the screeches of dying creatures filled the air, next came the white fang, and it’s members, or rather Adam’s party of it’s members. Between kills, his eyes caught sight of Kali Belladonna wrestling with one the rogue members of the group. 

Next came the others. Salem and her Maidens, and the chilling woman herself. All lined up in a row standing before them. It was no more than seconds later, and they entered the fray. 

Chaos had unleashed around him, but they’d been handed their assignment. Keep Cinder and Emerald occupied. He could do that. He had a myriad of awful things in mind. This was not him. But honestly, none of them were who they’d once been anymore. His sword withdrawn he threw himself head first into the battle. 

Nora and Ren were distracted managing the Fall maiden, Penny was fighting where she could, and he, was left facing Emerald. Of course, he’d been left facing her. The one person who could ruin everything. He’d take a lot of joy in bringing her down. She’d made Pyrrha cry. Dual scicles lunged at him, making a slice for his abdomen, he lunged back. Anger fueled his motions as he went in for another strike. 

A few shots were fired, and he watched, his eyes focused on the woman. Again, his aura flared to life. He’d had a few hours to rest, and now he needed the strength it provided him more than ever. A vibrant forcefield like substance surrounded him, and the battle continued. Blade meeting blade, shot after shot, meeting his shield or his aura and richochetting back at the woman. 

The battle continued like this. Shot after shot. Hit after hit. Miss after miss. Emerald was growing tired, and so was he. Where the hell were Coco and Velvet? Hadn’t they been assigned to help them too? There was a moment of silence. Where the world seemed to grow quiet despite the chaos raging around him, as he was blindsided, his body going down as a Beowolf hit him full force, taking him to the ground. A swift jab upward dispatched the Grimm but the minor distraction was all Emerald had needed. 

\----------------------------

Since when did this brat become so damn strong? The last time she’d seen Jaune Arc he was a weak little thing, who could barely, and she meant barely hold his own in a battle. Let alone hold his own against her, for as long as he had. Seemed a year could do a lot to a person. But a good distraction was all she needed to get the leg up on him. And a Beowolf came rushing in at just the right moment. 

Seemed all that resentment and pent up rage that the Arc was showing was enough to draw some attention to him. And the Branwen bitch and her Tribe couldn’t keep all of the Grimm at bay. It wasn’t possible, anyone could see that just by looking. That and it was common knowledge, Salem had a never-ending army of Grimm at her disposal, and until Salem was ripped from the picture. Which as she could see now, seemed inevitable. 

His aura flickered, and died, and her opportunity opened. A new barrage of attacks falling upon the boy. Her own semblance flared to life in the form of her own body shifting shape. It only seemed fitting that when she got rid of the boy, it be the one whom he was attempting to avenge that should end his life. 

Or at least beckon him into whatever afterlife awaited them when they passed on. 

As he rose up from the Grimm’s attack, a part of her almost felt bad, when she roadhoused him back to the ground. As it was anytime she did something that seemed so brutal. She did have a heart. Be it a tainted one, but there was one there. And there was the memory of a tainted childhood. The edge of fear that slammed into her every time her body made motions that had once been made at her. Before she’d been alone. 

\-----------------------------------

The face of Pyrrha stared at him, and maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t be terrible if he didn’t make it through-------

NO.

He’d promised Ruby, he’d promised his team that he’d make it through this mess in one piece. He’d promised them that this was not the end. He took the kick like a professional. His body knocked back, his ribs sore. He took in a few deep breath. 

Jaune Arc wouldn’t die today. 

He pulled himself back up, his sword acting as his support as he prepared himself for another strike. The face of Pyrrha, the voice of Pyrrha reminding him that he was on the losing end of this battle. 

“It’s time, Jaune. It’s okay.” Pyrrha’s voice was a whisper in his ear. And he wanted to reach out to her. To touch her, but he knew he’d find nothing. An illusion couldn’t be felt. An illusion wasn’t real. 

“Stop this!” His voice came out strained, like he was on the verge of tears. Unwanted tears. 

And then the thought crossed his mind, if he was going down--- He was going to take Emerald with him. The two of them were locked in an intense moment, and no one even dared to intrude. 

\-----------------------

Coco and Velvet had been given their orders, by Ruby, who had taken charge of this whole mission. Fight with Team JNPR. She’d agreed, any fight was a good fight as long as it was doing some good towards the end goal. But she and Velvet had both been consumed by their battle with Cinder, and Jaune had been left alone. But finally an opening had arrived and she’d repositioned her aim. 

“Don’t do it! This fight is mine.” She did not feel right about this. At all. It was obvious that Jaune was getting his ass handed to him. But he’d made his decision. And he seemed more than willing to stand by it. She was tempted to say something, anything. To do something despite his orders, but she was forced back into the other fight. Damnit. 

\-----------------------

Jaune lunged a few more feeble attacks, his hits were weak though, he was exhausted. And he kinda wished that he’d have taken Nora’s advice and had a gun function built into his weapon duo. Firing a gun would’ve been a hell of a lot better, not mention easier, than trying to hand to hand or raise his sword at this point. 

But the end was coming. That much he could tell. He knew that as her sickle came down, and his sword lunged up that this was the end. Her blade embedded itself in his chest and his sword came up, and embedded itself threw her abdomen slipping out the other side. Blood spewed forth from lips, and her eyes looked at him, shocked. 

“Jaune.” Pyrrha’s voice, again. Damnit. Damn her. Damn Emerald and her semblance. Damn the massive hole in his chest. Damn the tears that slipped from his eyes, and the pain as it blossomed through him. The want to see Pyrrha again. The real Pyrrha. Would he even get to see her? What would happened when this was over and he was gone? He knew that he wasn’t going to get very far. 

“Pyrrha….” His voice was growing weaker. “I’m coming home.”

He knew it was a losing fight. Would anyone else blame him for giving up? For just stopping. He’d taken care of Emerald, Raven had no doubt taken care of Mercury. And now, the others would finish up with Cinder in no time. 

“JAUNE!” Nora’s voice broke the illusion as his eyes dropped to a close. Or maybe it was the fact that Emerald had died, he didn’t know. All he knew was that he couldn’t breathe, and someone was screaming his name. He was sleepy. 

Stay awake. Stay awake. No. Let go. 

“Come on, kid, stay alive.” Coco. She came back. Well shit, at least she hadn’t gotten involved. He was proud of his sacrifice for his team, for the others. 

“Nah----” He was going for not a problem. A cocky response, despite his bleeding out, but he couldn’t force the words out and instead choked on the blood bubbling up in the back of his throat. Eyes dropped to a close, and he saw Pyrrha again. This time, she was warm, and welcoming. A hand extended beckoning him to her. 

Was this what it felt like to die? He was okay with that. 

\----------------------------------

From the start Nora had been revved and ready for lack of a proper terminology. From the second the crazy Grimm lady had decided to lead her war party onto the scene of their final battle. It was oddly fitting that the fight for humanity would happen here on the land where they’d lost so much. 

There was a time when they’d been good. When each of them had had an edge of purity to them that the cruelty of their world had snuffed out. Of course it’d started early for her and Ren. They’d lost so much when they were still just small children. But they’d always had each other, the force that kept them together despite the odds against them. So of course she believed that they could take on the coming fight with ease. 

She’d made a conscious effort to snag Cinder as she rushed past, a rough slam of a hammer knocking the woman back and into their range of battle. “You’re ours.” Her tone was almost cruel, coupled with the wicked smirk on her face as she held a tighter grip on her massive warhammer. 

Everyone knew that Nora Valkryie was a force to be reckoned with. Her cruel strength and the sheer will power was more than enough to ensure that she’d put her all into any cause she fully stood behind. And of course, leave it to her to be ready to jump into a fight with a maiden. Eyes watched as Ren took a few shots at their target from behind, and from the way Cinder’s eyes lit up with the sheer force of the maiden’s power, she was not at all pleased with what was happening. 

All their bases were covered. Coco and Velvet took the open sides of the woman, and while she had room to move, there was a slight chance of her getting past them without earning herself serious injury, which was good, considering Nora was going for dead. 

Shots were fired. Velvet and Coco both with identical weapons draw, seemed to be going to town on Cinder’s defenses, while she and Ren were left to take the woman’s hits as she delivered them cold and unmerciful. Fire balls, and flaming arrows were hard to dodge when they could reform and reach their target anyway. But so far she was doing a good job. Up until a stray arrow had landed in her shoulder from another battle with a White Fang Archer going on not too many feet away.

She heard Ren’s voice call out to her, but she wasted no time, answering, especially not after a shot of lightning hit her.

Cinder’s attention rested on Velvet who seemed to have most of her attention, at the moment. Velvet and Ren were alternating attacks and defense, and her eyes caught sight of Coco slipping away towards where Jaune was looking worse for wear. The feeling of the lightning coursing through her veins was enough to jolt her into action, the arrow in her shoulder all but forgotten as she jumped on the opportunity to pound Cinder into the ground, while she was distracted. 

It definitely wasn’t a fair fight. But as it was, Pyrrha hadn’t been given a fair fight either. Neither had anyone else who had fallen victim to Cinder and her friend’s tricks. No they’d been oh so merciless, and she’d find the favor returned here in violent suit. She raised her hammer high and slammed it into Cinder’s side, knocking her past the open space that Coco had left, and she rushed forward for another attack, taking a fireball straight to her aura, depleting what was left of it almost instantly. They needed to end this, quickly. 

“Nora! Get back!”Coco slid in, chain gun ripping out rounds in rapid succession at the maiden, to distract her from Nora’s retreat. As she turned to retreat, her eyes found Jaune, as the scicle of Emerald swept itself downward and embedded in his chest, and his own blade shoved upwards through her. 

“JAUNE!” Not another one. Please. Not another one of her friends. Normally bubbly happy Nora, found herself choking on a sob, of both anger and sadness, a terrible combination in someone so off the wall. She ran on sheer adrenaline now. The arrow pushed itself deeper into her shoulder, giving her more pain to drive her. Her warpath turning her around, and running her right back towards Cinder, hammer raised high, the maiden as it turned out wasn’t fairing too well under the attacks of Velvet and Coco. 

She wouldn’t be around to fair at all, when Nora finished with her. 

\-------------------------------------------

Cinder Fall had prepared for the possibility of this outcome. She’d known power for such a short time, but at least she’d known it. As it was, she’d been backed into a corner, no escape, and little hope, bullets slowly wearing down her aura, not mention the two strikes she’d taken from Nora’s hammer since the start of this battle. 

Fire magic could only take her so far. 

“This is for Pyrrha, and Jaune! And everyone else you've hurt.” The voice of the Valkyrie was a terrible sound in her ears as she approached hammer held high. 

And if it was her destiny to die here, which it was, she saw as the hammer descended a final bullet shattering what was left of her aura, she held only one regret, as the decisive blow of the hammer splattered her blood across the battlefield. 

She hadn’t gotten the chance to fight Ruby for what she’d done her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current Death Toll: 3
> 
> Stay tuned to see who else doesn't make it out alive.


	27. Another Message from the Writer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AS IT SAYS ON THE LABEL

I'm going to be working on a revamp of this fic. Filling in plot holes, adding some shit. Changing some shit. Because honestly looking back on it, some things went places I didn't want them too, and there were missing scenes that should've been there. And I need to add more details to other aspects (Like Summer's time with Salem aka How she went from "I will find my way back home." To "Your wish is my command.") 

As it is, I'm not happy with how this is right now, which is making it hard for me to actually find the words to fill in the last two remaining fights. So I'm going to do a rewrite. In a New Fic for those of you still following this one. I will post the link as soon as it's available. But I'm hoping to take this first draft and turn it into something far better. So I hope that you guys end up enjoying what I do with the revamp. Because I'm really excited to get the better quality version out to you guys!


	28. A FINAL NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AS IS ON THE LABEL

SO GUYS IT'S DONE. IT'S HERE. HERE IS THAT LOVELY REWRITE I PROMISED. OR AT LEAST THE FIRST CHAPTER OF IT. HERE YA GO. ENJOY YA BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. 

Don't forget to feed the author, let me know if you like the changes. 

http://archiveofourown.org/works/13457385/chapters/30848829


End file.
